The MindBody Problem: A Comparative Study of Rene Descartes, Baruch Spinoza and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz.
JOURNAL OF EMERGING TRENDS AND NOVEL RESEARCH 2026 DOI: 10.56975/jetnr.v4i3.233040 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that Descartes, Leibniz, and Spinoza each offered a distinct account of the mind-body relationship—interactionism, pre-established harmony, and monism, respectively—and proposes to assess which of these philosophical explanations is more logically convincing. |
Abstract
- In the history of philosophy, there have been many disagreements regarding the existence of consciousness and its basis. The main question is whether consciousness is produced from matter or whether it has an independent existence. Some philosophers claim that consciousness originates from matter; they are called materialists. Others believe that the world is composed of two substances—matter and mind—and they are known as dualists. In this paper, I will mainly examine how three rationalist philosophers—René Descartes, Baruch (de) Spinoza, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz and—have explained the relationship between body and mind. Here, Descartes supports the theory of interactionism, Leibniz proposes the doctrine of pre-established harmony, and Spinoza supports a non-dualistic (monistic) view.These three philosophers have presented different philosophical explanations. We will examine which of these views appears to be more logically convincing.