ABSTRACT
Dualism is an old philosophy that retains a strong appeal despite its flaws. To understand its appeal, this chapter examines its substance, its history, and its resonance in human nature. All of these factors combine to explain why dualistic interpretations of mental illness persist even as the evidence of biological causation accumulates. The chapter examines some of the many ideas that have been proposed as alternatives to Rene Descartes’ dualism. In addition to the philosophical arguments, there is also empirical evidence contradicting one of Descartes’ major claims, namely, that the mind “needs no other thing in order to exist.” Descartes wrote that mind exists only in humans and that animals are mere machines. The chapter suggests that in the course of human evolution, our ancestors who thought of their own consciousness as metaphysically remarkable—existing outside normal space and time—would have taken themselves still more seriously as Selves.
