Philosophy discussion 4

 Descartes believes that there exists  both 'mind' and 'matter' (or 'body' - same thing). Smart believes that  there is only 'matter', or the material/physical world, and everything  else, including thoughts, sensations and other apparently 'mental'  processes are really just physical processes at bottom. Which view do  you find more plausible? Explain why.

Please write a minimum 200 word response to the prompt;

 Required reading:  

https://eagleonline.hccs.edu/courses/163153/files/29703691/download?wrap=1

(Excerpted from, Rene Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy, Meditations 1 & 2, 1641, open-source text at: http://www.earlymoderntexts.com/authors/descartes  (Links to an external site.) Edited by Jonathan Bennett, annotated by Sally Parker-Ryan for HCC.) 

 2)  J. J. C. Smart, 'Sensations and Brain Processes' 

https://eagleonline.hccs.edu/courses/163153/files/29703532/download?wrap=1 

, The Philosophical Review, Vol. 68, No. 2 (Apr., 1959), pp. 141-156 Published by: Duke University Press on behalf of Philosophical Review, Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2182164 . First 5 pages only are required.

3)  Frank Jackson: Mary's Room thought experiment.

 https://eagleonline.hccs.edu/courses/163153/files/29703532/download?wrap=1

Supplementary Reading:

What is Physicalism? (an excerpt from the SEP)

https://eagleonline.hccs.edu/courses/163153/files/29703701/download?wrap=1

Lecture Notes:

Cartesian Dualism 

https://eagleonline.hccs.edu/courses/163153/files/29703689/download?wrap=1