Volume 57, 1999
Ermanno Bencivenga
Pages 1-5
A Note on Descartes and Eternal Truths
The famous passage from Descartes' Sixth Meditation (54), proving that I am distinct from my body, is analysed in a way that it presupposes the following argument: (1) God can make X and Y distinct. (2) I f God can make X and Y distinct, then X and Y are distinct. (3) Therefore, X and Y are distinct. (2) is shown up as the crucial premise, several objections to it and possible ways out are discussed with the result that Descartes needs to avoid references to God within the argument for the real distinctness of mind and body.