Descartes' Despair

How can we affirm our own existence?
Cogito ergo sum, Descartes said,
I think therefore I am.

But wait!
Who is doing the thinking?
The body?
Am I my body?

Well, Descartes explained, we are talking about
Two incompatible substances:
The unextended and indivisible mind
In contrast with the extended and divisible matter,
Res cogitans versus res extensa.

Yes, but am I my body?
How is the contact created
Between the mental
And the physical worlds?
Princess Elizabeth of the Palatinate asked.

Well, somewhere at the base of the brain,
In the pineal gland, replied the philosopher.

Oh, I have a problem with that,
The princess remarked.
For, if the brain exists in space,
How can the non-spatial mind dwell in it?

And Descartes threw up his hands
In despair.

poem by Paul Hartal
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!