... to doubt the material world, one cannot doubt that one is a thinking thing. However there remains a logical fallacy in saying this. From the premise that it is possible to doubt the existence of the body while being unable to doubt the existence of the thinking self it does not necessarily mean that the mind and body are distinct. It is equally plausible to say that the mind and body are the same, but the meditator is unaware of this. Descartes can deal with this by saying that by using the method of doubt he did not intend to assert that there is no body, but that it is open to question as to whether there is a body in the real world: 'The fact that I have doubts about the body, or deny that it exists, does not bring it about that no body exists' 1 Argu from ...

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