PHILOS 14 Lecture Notes - Lecture 27: East Los Angeles College, Scholia, Baruch Spinoza
Document Summary
Back track: descartes account of the mind body relation. Descartes understands that the human body must be understood as part of that which is extended, and must then be understood in terms of extended substance. Mind has no attribute with what is extended. His metaphysics already pre programs two distinct kinds of substance that seem to have a problem reconciling. Descartes makes some argument that a particular point in the brain, no matter how small the part of the brain is, still extended. Fundamental difficulty of reconciling the conceptual relation of mind and body. Spinoza wants to avoid the difficulties of mind and body. Body is understood under the attribute of extension, mind under the attributes of thought. There cannot be two particular substances at issue, because the human being is just one particular mode of the modes of substance. Theory of knowledge couched in a theory of truth.
