In Search of the Cartesian Self An Examination of Disembodiment within 21st-Century Communication

Abstract

Cyberspace has been hailed by some as a medium through which users can experience themselves as disembodied, freed from the corporeal trappings of the “real” world. Literature proclaiming the merits of this disembodied ideal has often described the user—s existential state as a form of Cartesian disembodiment, but without (in our view) giving serious consideration to whether this label is warranted. This paper explores the extent to which alterations to the contingency relation said to exist by Descartes, between mind and body (or physical system), result in experiences of disembodiment that can legitimately be described as Cartesian. After examining various examples of altered contingency r..