See occasionalism , doctrine of preestablished harmony , substance dualism , property dualism , Cartesian interactionist dualism , mind-body problem , monism . It is, of course, the last of these which is of most immediate interest to philosophers of mind. There has been a recent revival of interest in the topic of Cartesian dualism amongst modern philosophers of mind and cognitive scientists. The question of dualism is not only of historical interest, it also has important implications for the scientific enterprise. Often, the term 'Cartesian dualism' is used to refer to the general class of substance dualist theories.
Substance dualists hold that mind and matter are different kinds of substances.
Cartesian interactionist dualism is a particular kind of substance dualism espoused by Descartes in which these two different kinds of substance can causally interact. Because Descartes thought these two sorts of substance are essentially different, he held that they are also independent. Thus, matter can exist without minds and minds can exist without matter. It is one thing to claim that they do interact, it is another to convincingly explain how , particularly when mind and matter are conceived of so differently. It is this question that must be answered to solve the classic mind-body problem .