Substance dualism is a type of ontological dualism defended by Descartes in which it is claimed that there are two fundamental kinds of substance: mental and material. The mental does not extend in space, and material cannot think. Descartes imagined that the soul, a mental substance, could interact with the body through the pineal gland. This view contradicts physicalism which is the received view (the view that currently holds "sway") in philosophy of mind. However, it may be regarded important historically in that it has given rise to much thought over the famous mind/body problem. It may also be noted that philosophical interpretations of quantum mechanics -- especially the consciousness causes collapse interpretation -- are not a revival of substance dualism, since these views generally claim the observer is entangled the object being observed, not a separate substance which is the claim of substance dualism. René Descartes René Descartes (IPA: , March 31, 1596 – February 11, 1650), also known as Cartesius, worked as a philosopher and mathematician. ... The pineal gland (pronunciation: pI-nE-&l, pI-), or epiphysis, is a small endocrine gland. ... See also the old text of this article Physicalism/Larrys text. ... Philosophy of mind is the philosophical study of the nature of the mind, mental events, mental functions, mental properties, and consciousness. ... In a nontechnical sense, an interpretation of quantum mechanics is an attempt to answer the question: what exactly is quantum mechanics talking about? Quantum mechanics has been very successful in predicting experimental results. ... Consciousness causes collapse is an interpretation of quantum mechanics based on the idea that conscious observers should be considered responsible for the wavefunction collapse into the forms or objects we see around us. ... Quantum entanglement is a quantum mechanical phenomenon in which the quantum states of two or more objects have to be described with reference to each other, even though the individual objects may be spatially separated. ...

Substance dualism is a philosophical position compatible with most theology which posits immortal souls occupying an independent realm of existence, while apparently bodies die. In Descartes's theory, the seat of consciousness is immaterial and immortal: it does not exist physically, while the body is merely a machine. Descartes considered animals to be machines with no souls, separating man from animal. Theology is literally rational discourse concerning God (Greek θεος, theos, God, + λογος, logos, rational discourse). By extension, it also refers to the study of other religious topics. ...

David Chalmers recently showed a metaphysical scenario inspired from the movie The Matrix in which substance dualism is true. Consider a computer simulation in which the bodies of the creatures are controlled by their minds which remain strictly external to the simulation. The creatures can do all the science they want in the world, but they will never be able to figure out where their minds are, for it does not exist in their observable universe. This is a case of substance dualism with respect to the computer simulation. This naturally differs from a computer simulation in which the minds are part of the simulation, in that case substance monism would be true. David Chalmers is a leading philosopher in the area of philosophy of mind. ... The Matrix is a film first released in the USA on March 31, 1999, written and directed by the Wachowski brothers (Andy and Larry). ... Monism is the metaphysical position that all is of one essential essence, substance or energy. ...