Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Editorial
. 2018 Mar;20(1):3.
doi: 10.31887/DCNS.2018.20.1/fthibaut.

The mind-body Cartesian dualism and psychiatry

Florence Thibaut  1
Affiliations
Editorial

The mind-body Cartesian dualism and psychiatry

Florence Thibaut. Dialogues Clin Neurosci. 2018 Mar.

Abstract

The French philosopher René Descartes (1596-1650) argued that the natures of mind and body are completely different from one another and that each could exist by itself. How can these two structures with different natures causally interact in order to give rise to a human being with voluntary bodily motions and sensations? Even today, the problem of mind-body causal interaction remains a matter of debate.

Keywords: Descartes; body-mind dualism; neurology; psychiatry; psychosomatics.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Descartes R. The Philosophical Writing of Rene Descartes. 3 vols. Cottinghma J, Stoohoff R, Murdoch D, Kenny A, trans. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press: 1984-1991
    1. Skirry J. Descartes and the Metaphysics of Human Nature. London, UK; New York, NY: Thoemmes-Continuum Press; 2005
    1. Parna S., Spearpoint K., de Vos G., et al. AWARE- AWAreness during REsuscitation. A prospective study. Resuscitation. 2014;85(12):1799–1805. - PubMed
    1. Fitzgerald M. Do psychiatry and neurology need a close partnership or a merger? BJ Psych Bull. 2015;39(3):105–107. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms