PHILOSOPHERS' STONE. PART 83

The basic life principle according to Aristotle present in every matter and organism was the soul.He was able to identify and categorise them as plant soul or animal soul and they could not be conceived as separate from the body.The radical division of soul and body by all ramification was not introduced by philosophers until the dawn of 17th century.And it was nt feasible,given the fact that they were seen as one big indivisible mechanistic entity,that is all material objects'motion,body human or animal and plant involving mechanical processes.To believe that there must be esoteric connection between body and consciousness,clearly influences Descartes' thoughts and theory.Like Plato,he did not jettison his bold conviction of a sharp contrast between spirit and matter.Unlike Plato could not only just interogate but also discover then how the mind influences the body or soul in relation to the body.In solving a philosophical problem,he in his Discourse on Method,raises question on the method to solve them.