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Descartes' Dualism and Contemporary Dualism
Author(s) -
Wee Cecilia,
Pelczar Michael
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
the southern journal of philosophy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.281
H-Index - 21
eISSN - 2041-6962
pISSN - 0038-4283
DOI - 10.1111/j.2041-6962.2008.tb00073.x
Subject(s) - dualism , supervenience , epistemology , physicalism , relation (database) , modal , philosophy , diagrammatic reasoning , mind–body problem , identity (music) , metaphysics , linguistics , aesthetics , computer science , chemistry , database , polymer chemistry
After drawing a distinction between two kinds of dualism—numerical dualism (defined in terms of identity) and modal dualism (defined in terms of supervenience)—we argue that Descartes is a numerical dualist, but not a modal dualist. Since most contemporary dualists advocate modal dualism, the relation of Descartes' views to the contemporary philosophy of mind are more complex than is commonly assumed.