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 abstract concepts 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 the situation. 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.