<P> Dualism is closely associated with the thought of René Descartes ( 1641 ) , which holds that the mind is a nonphysical -- and therefore , non-spatial -- substance . Descartes clearly identified the mind with consciousness and self - awareness and distinguished this from the brain as the seat of intelligence . Hence , he was the first to formulate the mind -- body problem in the form in which it exists today . Dualism is contrasted with various kinds of monism . Substance dualism is contrasted with all forms of materialism , but property dualism may be considered a form of emergent materialism or non-reductive physicalism in some sense . </P>
was one of the first to suggest that the mind can cause physical ailments
René Descartes