The Possibility or Impossibility of the Immortality of Soul in Descarte's Metaphysics

No single text has more importance for the history of philosophy than Descartes'' Meditations. In the very beginning of the book، i. e. in his dedicatory letter، he claims «I have always thought that two topics، namely God and the soul، are prime examples of subjects for which demonstrative proofs ought to be given with the aid of philosophy rather than theology.» But if we scrutinize the principles of Descartes'' Philosophy، some points will be revealed as follows: firstly، the immortality of soul can not be demonstrated philosophically; secondly، soul in Descartes'' terminology has no meaning other than mind which can not be discussed within any religious discourse; thirdly، life and death in Descartes'' philosophy are taken as basically different from what theologians take them; fourthly، in Descartes'' philosophy، personal unity deals with body having feeling and imagination rather than with soul.