Analysis #3

Descartes and Spinoza are some interesting characters. The main struggle between the two of them is the relationship between mind and body. Descartes, who believed in dualism, believed that the mind and body were completely separate entities. Spinoza, on the other hand, is a monist, meaning he believes that the mind and body are connected. Spinoza establishes the rudiments for the transcendental philosophy that Thoreau and other famous literary artist exemplified in the early to mid-1800's. Spinoza proliferated this idea that the three most basic pillars of the universe are God, nature, and our Substance. Thus, in order to live a good life, in Spinoza's view, we must reconnect with God through nature since God is in every living thing (I will give my thoughts on this theory in my Modern-Day Connection post). Both Sophie and Spinoza also have somewhat of a practical approach to monism as well. It is quite simple to figure that our brain- the mind- controls our movement; If I want to lift my arm, my arm soon lifts. Plus, my body sends signals to my brain, resulting in our reflexes and other processes; If I touch a hot stove, my hand's sensory receptors relay the message to my central nervous system through to the brain-stem (the part of the brain responsible for reflexes) which then activates command neurons to dictate motor neurons in our arm to move away from the painful source. In other words, there has to be some sort of connection between the mind and body in order for anything to work. This is proven by basic anatomy and physiology (Plus psychology!). In conclusion, I concur with Spinoza in the idea of monism, but for different reasons.