Ryle's Refutation of the Metaphysical Doctrine
             Rene Descartes holds a dualist view that the mind and body are two totally separate entities. In response to this Gilbert Ryle has published an article showing that the argument, and its premises, of Descartes' Metaphysical Doctrine are incorrect. He does not show the premises, themselves, to be individually false, but instead shows that Descartes has simply made an error in his conceptualizations of the mind and body. In this paper I will show that Ryle's analysis of the Metaphysical Doctrine, and it faults, is correct. In addition, his arguments against the premises of the Doctrine are accurate and effective.
             Ryle believes that Descartes has simply made a 'category error' in trying to explain the relationship between the mind and the body. A "category error" occurs when an individual is unable to grasp a larger concept and understand simple terminology. For example, a person may look at a closet full of clothes, yet still be unable to understand the idea of the wardrobe. He may see all the shirts and pants hanging, and all the shoes stacked up, but still be unable to see where the wardrobe is. This person has not grasped the concept that the wardrobe is not a separate, tangible item, but is the entire organization of the closet itself.
             Descartes has made a similar 'category error' in assuming that the mind and body must be separate items. Ryle shows that although the two cannot be spoken of in the same manner, they are still interrelated: "Because, as is true, a person's thinking, feeling, and purposive doing cannot be described solely in the idioms of physics, chemistry and physiology, therefore they must be described in counterpart idioms" (pp.54).
             The argument for Descartes' Doctrine is as follows:
             1. No one thing can have incompatible, essential properties.
             2. The mind is essentially indivisibl...