8/13/2019 Phill Assignment 3

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Rachel Lim

Into to Philosophy 101

Assignment #3

WORD COUNT: 342

Both Princess Elisabeth and Descartes discuss the relationship between the soul and

the body. While Elisabeth contends that something abstract like the soul cannot

possibly manifest itself through physical actions, Descartes argues that it can.

Elisabeth believes that there must be physical contact or force for objects of mass to

interact. She says she would rather think of the soul as having physical presence

than not. The nature of the original source of contention manifests itself again in

other arguments that follow. Such argument is one regarding passions, the soul, and

our bodies. She again questions how immaterial things such as feelings, can

influence our minds, which then influence our actions. She struggles to grasp the

idea that the intangible can influence the tangible and begins to outline her beliefs

as to why this is possible. In summary, she gives physical forms to the abstractconcepts and attempts to explain how the body functions through science and

tangible factors, as a way of creating an explanation she can fully comprehend and

believe in.

Descartes replies the Her Highness questions with unhelpful and unclear answers.

Instead of stating his response in a clear and concise manner, through a series of

confusing examples and circumlocution, he avoids answering the Princess

confusion concerning the interaction between the abstract and concrete. He himself

is unable to form an answer to the princess questions, and frustrated, advises her to

stop overanalyzing matters. Descartes believes we should stop using the distinction

between the soul and the body as way to understand how they interact.

While I disagree with Princess Elisabeth, I cannot bring myself to fully agree with

Descartes either. While I do feel that Descartes is correct in drawing a clear

distinction between the body and the mind, his failure to provide a sufficient

explanation prohibits me from fully supporting his argument. Therefore, I cannot

determine who is more right.

However, while I disagree with the princess stance, I feel that the princess was

more correct in her approach to the argument. She attempted to support her views

with possible explanations based on the science of her times. She wanted

corroborate her claims with some form of evidence to prove her point. It was an

admirable attempt and was necessary for her to develop in order to comprehend thesituation. On the other hand, Descartes failure to provide a clear rebuttal of the

princess claims did nothing to bolster his arguments. His attempts to answer the

princess questions were ineffective. He himself could not provide concrete evidence

as to how the formless soul could prompt physical actions.