Descartes And John Locke s Views On Human Understanding

The body, mind, and soul are said to be capable of extraordinary properties that assist in human understanding. Renà © Descartes, and John Locke are two primary philosophers that have shaped modern philosophy with their views on human understanding. Both philosophers assumed that the proper function of human understanding relies upon processes within the body. The processes involved in this understanding are viewed distinctly by each philosopher. Descartes described that the mind and body interact between each other to form human understanding. To interpret the mind, and body processes, it is important to decipher what is contributed to each part. Descartes had certain criterion to determine whether a function belongs to the body, or mind. He believed that what is experienced, and physically seen belongs to the body; while everything else that is unable to belong to the body belongs to the mind, or soul (Descartes, 1998, p. 54-55). Due to this, Descartes insisted that nothing can be attributed to the mind, except two types of processes. The first type is actions, or volitions; the other type is passions, which are referred to as sensations and perceptions (Descartes, 1998, p. 54). Each type may be categorized into different processes. Actions are viewed as two different processes. One type is actions that are volitions produced from the mind, or soul (Descartes, 1998, p. 62). This type is considered to be the internal operations that are voluntarily controlled. The otherShow MoreRelatedJohn Locke s View On Identity963 Words   |  4 PagesHow is John Locke acknowledged in society? Rene Descartes became accredited by what? Well, people knew these men for their philosophical views, their views on identity varied undoubtedly. For example, Descartes famous line I think, therefore I am alludes to the fact that he most certainly exists. On the other hand, Locke believes that if you committed a crime, but cannot recall your actions, then you should not serve time for your crime. Hence, Descartes perspective of identity contains the selfRead MorePropelling Rational Thought Over Compelling Empiricism1459 Words   |  6 PagesIn this paper I intend to examine the rationalist philosophy of Rene Descartes and fundamental em piricism of John Locke’s philosophical arguments, in particular their ideas relating to the science of man, his identity and attempt to explain distinctions between the two. As I lay the framework of my argument it is important to understand the precepts that serve as the underpinning for the views considered by Descartes and Locke respectively. 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