Discussion Topic #4: Descartes’ Conceivability Argument Premise (3)

Remember the argument from conceivability that Kagen reconstructs in Chap.4 of Death. In PowerPoint #7 we found reasons to be suspicious of premises (1) and (2). We then turned to premise (3) and asked if it is true.

A3
(1) I can conceive or imagine that my mind exists without my body existing. (premise)
(2) If I can imagine that my mind exists without my body existing, then it is logically possible that my mind exists without my body existing. (premise)
(3) If it is logically possible for my mind to exist without my body existing, then my mind and body must, in fact, be distinct items. (premise)
(4) My mind and body are, in fact, distinct items. (conclusion from (1) – (3)).

Premise (3) ultimately derives from a more general assumption called “GA.”

GA: If it is logically possible for an item O1 to exist without item O2 existing, then O1 cannot equal O2.

For your discussion assignment, please do the following:

1. Relying on lecture notes and your own reflections and perhaps some of Kagen’s suggestions in Chap. 4 of his book Death, try as best you can to justify the reasoning behind this general principle GA.

2. Then, say whether or not you take this justification to be adequate. That is, do you take GA to be reasonable to accept on the basis of this reasoning? Why or why not?

3. Then say whether or not (1), (2), and (3), even if all true, would put you in a position to assert the truth of (4).
To this end, it might be easier for you to think about premise (3) of another argument with exactly the same logical structure as (A3), i.e.,

A4
(1) I can imagine a world where Samuel Clemens existed, but Mark Twain didn’t. (premise)
(2) If something can be imagined, then it is logically possible. (premise)
(3) If it is logically possible for one thing to exist without another, then even in the actual world those two things must indeed be different things. (premise)
(4) Mark Twain and Samuel Clemens must be different things (even in the actual world). (conclusion from 1-3)

Suppose that the situation in which this case arises is very much like the one in which Kagen’s “evening star/morning star” example arises: I am contemplating the argument in a state of ignorance regarding the complete properties of Samuel Clemens. Suppose that all I know about Samuel Clemens is that he grew up in Hannibal, Missouri, apprenticed with a printer, worked as a typesetter and eventually became a master riverboat pilot on the Mississippi. On the other hand, suppose that all that I know about Mark Twain is that he was the author of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.

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