<P> In Western Philosophy , the earliest discussions of dualist ideas are in the writings of Plato who maintained that humans ' `` intelligence '' ( a faculty of the mind or soul ) could not be identified with , or explained in terms of , their physical body . However , the best - known version of dualism is due to René Descartes ( 1641 ) , and holds that the mind is a non-extended , non-physical substance , a `` res cogitans '' . Descartes was the first to clearly identify the mind with consciousness and self - awareness , and to distinguish this from the brain , which was the seat of intelligence . He was therefore the first to formulate the mind -- body problem in the form in which it still exists today . </P>
<P> In Western Philosophy , the earliest discussions of dualist ideas are in the writings of Plato who maintained that humans ' `` intelligence '' ( a faculty of the mind or soul ) could not be identified with , or explained in terms of , their physical body . However , the best - known version of dualism is due to René Descartes ( 1641 ) , and holds that the mind is a non-extended , non-physical substance , a `` res cogitans '' . Descartes was the first to clearly identify the mind with consciousness and self - awareness , and to distinguish this from the brain , which was the seat of intelligence . He was therefore the first to formulate the mind -- body problem in the form in which it still exists today . </P>
who spread the theory that one is a product of the mind and body
who spread the theory that one is a product of the mind and body
René Descartes
René Descartes