The correspondence between philosopher René Descartes and the Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia from 1643 to 1649 give incredible insight not only into the person of René Descartes but the intricacies of his philosophical views, particularly as a critical review of his substance dualism. The core tenants of Cartesian dualism are (in brief) that;
1) There exists only two distinct types of substance; material substances (of the body and the physical realm – that is extended spatially) and immaterial substances (that make up the mind, rationality and the soul.)
2) In relation to the body – Descartes is a mechanist; such that the body operates like a machine, according to internal laws, reactivity to external stimuli. The soul or mind is capable of diverting these automated principles; such that we see the distinction between human reason and action, and the behaviour of animals. …show more content…
" While there exist hundreds of critical evaluations regarding the mind-body problem for Cartesian dualism, for the purposes of this essay, the focus shall explicitly be on the interactions and defence presented by Descartes in his correspondence with Elisabeth. Given that Elisabeth’s questions arose not from adversarial motives, but were “generated out of immediate, painful experiences” Descartes will be evaluated on the advice he gives her and its relation to her personal questions regarding the interaction of body and soul. As this essay shall expound, Descartes in unfortunately quite vague, and inherently contradictory in the advice he gives and his arguments are insufficiently