What is Descartes’s mind-body dualism? What alternative Marleau Ponty gave to Descartes’ cogito?

Descartes's Mind-Body Dualism:
René Descartes, a 17th-century French philosopher, introduced the concept of mind-body dualism in his philosophy. In his seminal work, "Meditations on First Philosophy," Descartes famously proclaimed, "Cogito, ergo sum" (I think, therefore I am), expressing a foundational certainty about his own existence as a thinking being. Descartes argued that the mind (or soul) and the body are fundamentally distinct substances with different natures.

According to Descartes, the mind is a non-material, thinking substance, capable of doubt, reason, and self-awareness. It is not spatially located and is not subject to the laws of physics. In contrast, the body is a material, extended substance, subject to physical laws and devoid of conscious thought. The mind and body interacted through the pineal gland, a structure in the brain, according to Descartes.

This mind-body dualism gave rise to several philosophical problems, including the mind-body interaction problem — how an immaterial mind could causally influence a material body and vice versa. Descartes's dualism has been critiqued for its difficulty in explaining the unity of human experience and the apparent causal interaction between mind and body.

Merleau-Ponty's Alternative to Descartes' Cogito:
Maurice Merleau-Ponty, a 20th-century French phenomenologist, offered an alternative perspective to Descartes' cogito through his embodied phenomenology. Merleau-Ponty rejected the sharp dualism between mind and body, emphasizing the inseparability of the two in human experience.

Merleau-Ponty argued that the body is not a mere object but is integral to our perception and understanding of the world. He introduced the concept of the "lived body" or "Leib" to emphasize the pre-reflective, embodied nature of our existence. Instead of Descartes' disembodied thinking subject, Merleau-Ponty's approach considers consciousness as embodied, situated, and engaged in the world.

Merleau-Ponty challenged the notion that the body is just an object in the world, proposing that our perception is inherently embodied. The body is not a separate entity that the mind manipulates but is an active, perceiving subject in itself. He argued that our bodily experiences are fundamental to cognition, perception, and understanding.

In Merleau-Ponty's phenomenology, the body is not an obstacle to knowledge but a medium through which we apprehend and make sense of the world. He rejected the strict separation between subject and object, mind and body, proposing a more holistic understanding of human existence.

In summary, while Descartes advocated for a dualistic separation between mind and body, Merleau-Ponty proposed an alternative that emphasized the embodied nature of consciousness. Merleau-Ponty's phenomenology has significantly influenced contemporary philosophy, psychology, and cognitive science, challenging Cartesian dualism and offering a more nuanced understanding of the lived experience of being in the world.