The set of ideas of Rene Descartes is commonly called Cartesian philosophy; the name comes from his Latin name Renatus Cartesius. One of the problems of this philosophy continues to be debated today since it is not specifically scientific, but methodological in its nature. In the history of natural sciences, it was called a psychophysical problem, and since the end of the nineteenth century, it has been considered a psychophysiological problem. The essence of this problem can be expressed in the form of a question: how do physiological and mental processes relate?
Descartes recognized that the machine of the body and the consciousness is occupied with its own thoughts, ideas, and “desires,” and they are independent entities or substances (Lawhead, 2015). Rene Descartes was faced with the need to explain how the mind and body coexist in an integral person. The solution he proposed was psychophysical interaction; according to the principle of psychophysical interaction, physiological and mental processes directly affect each other. The body affects the soul, awakening passions in it in sensory perceptions and emotions. The soul, having thinking and will, affects the body, forcing this “machine” to work and change its course.
I accept Cartesian Dualism and agree that humans are both a mind and a body. Descartes was looking for an organ in the body with which these incompatible substances could still interact. He proposed considering the pineal gland, or epiphysis as such an organ (Lawhead, 2015). This gland, perceiving the movement of animal spirits, is capable of influencing, in turn, to influence their purely mechanical flow through vibrations. Descartes admitted that the soul could change its direction without creating new activities, just as a rider controls a horse.
I also think that a person has an organ with which the soul and body interact; for example, the heart can be such an organ. Proof of this can be found in the stories of patients who have had a transplant of this vital organ. Sometime after the surgical intervention, it turned out that the specific personality traits of the patients changed. Based on this, it can be concluded that human mental qualities or character are not the results of brain activities but also of the heart. Moreover, during a heart transplant, this “cellular memory,” which a soul can be called, passes to another person. Therefore, I believe that the mind-body problem can be solved with a more thorough analysis of the relationship of a person’s feelings and thoughts with specific organs, for example, with the heart.
The human soul is radically different from the human body and does not depend on it. It can continue to exist even without the physical, material shell that people call their flesh. Nevertheless, there is such a close connection between the physical form and the soul, as if there is an interpenetration. The mind, or soul, cannot be located in any particular part of the organism. The causal connection between these two worlds is carried out through specific organs, for example, through a tiny gland called the pineal body or through the heart. Philosophers still do not have a scientific theory that would explain how subjective psychological reality is connected with objective physical and biological reality. Consequently, the idea of a non-physical soul will continue to be discussed as a scientific hypothesis that may well be recognized as reliable.
Reference
Lawhead, W. F. (2015). The voyage of discovery: A historical introduction to philosophy. In S. Milewski (Ed.), Descartes’ mind and body dualism (pp. 256-258). Stamford, USA: Cengage Learning.