Ryle on mind body dualism

Descartes argued that the mind and body were separate substances. Gilbert Ryle (1949:37-38) argued that Descartes's account of mind-body dualism amounts to a category mistake. According to Ryle, the mind is only an aspect or a sense of the body; they are not separate. A 'pair of gloves' is just another sense of the combination of a right-handed and left-handed glove. One would make a category mistake to think that the 'combination of right and left glove' is a separate entity from the 'pair of gloves.' Ryle, Gilbert. 1949. “Descartes’ Myth.” Pp 32-38 in Philosophy of Mind: Classical and Contemporary Readings, edited by David J. Chalmers. New York: Oxford University Press.