ABSTRACT
Current reformulations of the body are situated within a historical conjuncture which is often characterized by its apparent newness. The singular, bounded, carbon-based body is being replaced by the proliferation and emergence of technologies and practices which enable the enhancement, alteration and invention of new bodies. One of the key splits or separations that have been reproduced in different ways across the natural and human sciences is the mind—body dualism. This chapter encounters the dualism and its revision and rethinking in different ways. It starts by considering what is meant by the concept of dualism, and how it might elaborate the relationship between the mind and body. The exercise of rationality is often aligned with those practices linked to academic study, where the academic project is often viewed as a work of thought. This presumes that thinking primarily takes place independently of the body.
