Kukso, K. (2026) Cartesian Medicine of Soul and Body – Международный журнал исследований культуры

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Kseniya A. KUKSO
Russian State Pedagogical University in the name of A. I. Herzen
48 Embankment of the river Moika, Saint-Petersburg, Russian Federation, 191186
Associate professor of Department of Philosophical Anthropology and History of Philosophy, Institute of Philosophy of Human
PhD (in Philosophy)
e-mail: korsbai@mail.ru
ORCID: 0000-0003-2213-3026

Kukso, K. (2026) Cartesian Medicine of Soul and Body

Abstract: The psychophysiological and physiological fragments of René Descartes' essays in the general context of his metaphysical and physical ideas are analyzed in the article. By reconstructing the connections between Descartes' meticulous study of the body's structure and his comprehensive understanding of universal mechanics and the relationship between the soul and the body, the author shows why the development of the physiological model and the philosopher's great expectations for expanding the boundaries of medicine captivated him, how his ideas developed the findings of the great anatomists of the 16th and 17th centuries and how the advancement of body therapy was contributed with his ideas. The philosopher's exploration of the complex issue of the soul's influence on the body's well-being is analyzed in the article. Descartes emphasizes that the body serves as a source of pleasure and fulfillment for the soul, while the soul gains control over the complex automaton of the body. Furthermore Descartes's dualism of the soul and the body is rooted in his belief in the perfection of the bodily automaton and the importance of its utilization by the rational soul, which embarks on a journey of self-discovery through the use of will and intellect. This is the basis for the philosopher's original line of medical prescriptions about the therapeutic effects of the body and the experience of the soul's conversion to the pure good of its own abilities. The philosophical and theological basis of the idea of the body as a natural automaton is also revealed where the basic laws of mechanics are expressed. It is shown that the body operates according to the principle of the addition of movements which reveals the principle of the constant amount of movement. The addition of movements is the subject of knowledge for the rational soul (the laws of movement) and the control of external bodies (simple machines) and the body itself (habit). So the new dimension of therapy is opened up, where the principle of controlling of the soul through with habit and strict judgments of the mind serves as a tool for correcting pathogenic bodily conditions.

Key words: Descartes, history of ideas, body, bodily automaton, physiology, mechanics, psychophysiology, soul, habit, psychosomatics, foundations of integrative medicine.

References:

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For Citation:

Kukso, K. (2026) Cartesian Medicine of Soul and Body. International Journal of Cultural Research, 1 (62). 103–117. DOI: 10.52173/2079-1100_2026_1_103

DOI: 10.52173/2079-1100_2026_1_103