Mind–body dualism

High school (ages 12+)
Human Body

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/mind-body-dualism

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the key proponent?René Descartes (1596-1650), a French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist
2. What is mind-body dualism?Mind-body dualism is the idea that the mind (our thoughts and feelings) and the body (our physical body) are two separate kinds of things that can exist on their own.
3. Why did René Descartes think the mind and body are different?Descartes believed the mind is a thinking, unextended thing, while the body is a physical, extended thing that follows mechanical rules, so he said they are different.

Res Cogitans: Latin for 'thinking thing,' referring to the mind as an immaterial substance.
Res Extensa: Latin for 'extended thing,' referring to the physical body and its spatial properties.
Qualia: The subjective, qualitative character of conscious experience (e.g., the 'redness' of red).
Hard Problem of Consciousness: The challenge of explaining how physical brain processes give rise to subjective conscious experience.