Descartes’s Embodied Minds

Abstract

Descartes‟s philosophy of mind does not reduce to the mind-bodydualism of his Meditations. Indeed, we can find a certain theory of consciousnessscattered throughout his writings; though the term „consciousness‟, understood asphenomenal consciousness, is not part of his vocabulary. His dualistic ontology isa consequence of the conceptual limitations and the metaphysical preconceptionsof his time. However, Descartes‟s theory of perception, his concept of „mind‟, histheory of ideas, and his theory of the passions form a sophisticated theory ofhuman experience commensurable with contemporary theories of consciousness.