Reading Questions
René Descartes - Dualistic Interactionism

1. Even after trying to doubt everything, Descartes is still convinced that he exists. He then turns to an investigation of what exactly he is. What does Descartes decide that he is?
2. What does Descartes say about the relationship between his mind/soul and his body? Could one exist without the other?
3. Descartes says that he has many ideas that seem to him to be caused by corporeal things or bodies. Descartes is concerned though that sometimes his senses fool him and it could be that no corporeal things exist and that these ideas are caused by something else. How does Descartes finally decide that corporeal things do exist? (Note: corporeal means something like "material" or "physical" here.)
4. According to Descartes, is the mind divisible into parts? Is the body?