In “Descartes’s Myth”, Ryle argues that Descartes’ substance dualism rests on a category mistake. His argument claims that Descartes’ miscategorized the mind and body by placing them in the same category. According to Ryle, Descartes’ mistake led him to the conclusion that the mind and body are different substances, what he describes as substance dualism. In this paper, I will argue that Ryle was correct in his assessment of Descartes’ categorical mistake and that Descartes’ mistake forced him to arrive at the incorrect conclusion of substance dualism.
Substance dualism argues that the mind and the body are two separate substances, where the body is physical while the mind is nonphysical. Descartes' conclusion of substance dualism emerged
