Spinoza’s Criticism of Descartes’ Substance Dualism

â€Å"God is the only substance that can exist or be conceived.† Spinoza’s criticism of Descartes’ substance dualism By: Jawad Samimi 01/04/2012 Substance dualism is often called ‘Cartesian dualism ‎and is the assumption that mind and body are really distinct substances. Rene Descartes (1596 – 1650) was the first early modern philosopher to hold that a thinking-thing is entirely different form an extended thing and mind can exist without the body. Cartesian dualism, which started the famous mind-body problem of causal interaction, has been criticised by many, one of whom was a primary adherent, Baruch Spinoza (632-1677). This essay aims to explain and assess Spinoza’s criticism of Descartes substance dualism and see what Spinoza offers†¦show more content†¦Meanwhile, the fundamental feature of a mind/soul, in Descartes view, is to think not to give life or nourish, as Scholastic Aristotelians thought. Now let’s see what objections Baruch Spinoza has to Descartes. Spinoza’s criticism of Cartesian Dualism Spinoza, having been a rationalist character and a careful expositor of Cartesianism, defines substance, attribute and mode in ways which are very close to the ones Descartes had previously given. In Ethics, he outlines his position as follows. Unity of Substance From Spinoza’s definitions and comparing them to the ones of Descartes I explained earlier, it is clear that for both philosophers a substance is self-sufficient, an attribute constitutes the essences of a substance, and modes are dependent for their existence on other things. However, when Descartes using his analytic mode of evaluation which utilized his concept of â€Å"clear and distinct ideas† argues that minds and bodies are distinct substances but depend for their existence on God, Spinoza objects and says â€Å"One substance can’t be produced by another substance.† (Ethics, I, p6) Michael Della Rocca, in his book (Spinoza-2008) has a good explanation of this. So, if this principle mind and body dependence to God for their existence is taken seriously, the rational conclusion would be that they can’t be