MSU Philosophy Princess Elisabeth Bohemia and Descartes Question

That Descartes! You hired him as your personal tutor. You are Queen Christina of Sweden and he should be happy with that position. But his argument with Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia is causing a diplomatic mess. In a series of highly public letters, she has argued against his substance dualism, which she claims is unable to accommodate the obvious fact that minds interact with bodies. He has responded vigorously and now even the King of France has taken an interest. He’s far too powerful to ignore, so you decide to write a letter to him to explain the dispute between Descartes and Elisabeth. Hopefully, you can show him that it is truly a philosophical one. Rulers and politicians can stay out of it. In your letter, you explain substance dualism and why Descartes believes it is true. You then explain Elisabeth’s objection to substance dualism.

Task

Write a letter–it should have an address, salutation, etc.— to the King of France in which you do the following:

Explain substance dualism. Make sure to explain the basic concept of a substance as well as explain what it means to say that there are both mental and physical substances.

Explain Descartes’ basic argument for substance dualism. You don’t need to discuss every argument. Just pick the strongest and explain it. Make sure to explain the evidence/premises of the argument. Don’t just cite the conclusion.

Explain Princess Elisabeth’s argument against substance dualism.