Descartes’ Conception of Animal-Machine

Abstract

The topic of the article is the Cartesian conception of animal-machine and errors appearing in its interpretations. The article aims at revealing the errors and defending the thesis that, in contrast to a generally accepted claim, animals in Descartes’ conception are not only soulless machines but, even though they have no souls and can neither think nor speak, can experience sensations and feel. Thus, in relation to the whole Descartes’ conception, animals form a distinct category of beings whose characteristic quality is the ability to feel sensations.