Descartes Opinion Concerning Soul

Descartes was recommended by M. Pollot to Elisabeth assuring her of his goodwill toward everyone and in particularly her. So Elisabeth writes to Descartes in a letter petitioning him to answer something she cannot understand, she asks how the soul of man can determine the spirits of the body to produce voluntary actions. She wants to understand the soul better and understand how the mind can move the body without the mind being physical since according to her knowledge, movement of something physical cannot happen without another physical being or object makes contact first which moves it. Pg11, Pg12

Descartes with a great respect tours Elisabeth replies in another letter explaining that he believes the body and the soul and two very different things but though they are different they are inseparable and one cannot function without the other. The soul is the thinking part, in charge of thinking, reasoning, understanding, etc. The body is the physical and is an extension, figure, and movement, but to the body and soul the union exists which is when the soul moves the body and when the body acts upon the soul Pg13.

In a 2nd letter from Descartes he goes further and deeper to re-explaining to Elisabeth about the three notions which are that the soul conceives itself by the pure understanding, the body again, figure, movement, extension can be recognized by understanding alone but better by the understanding aided by imagination, and the union of soul and body can be recognized only obscurely by the understanding alone or even by the understanding aided by imagination. Pg18

I do believe that Descartes gave an adequate answer, I do agree that body and soul are two different things but they are inseparable from one another because you may have a body, and you may mod this body by getting tattoos, cutting all your hair off, maybe you have an accident or a disease that causes you to have a limb removed but you getting a limb or part of your body removed or changed does not change your soul or your understandings, just how you may forget some thought but loosing that thought or memory doesn’t change your body, because they are two different things but they are also inseparable so the mind may suffer with your body but it will not change it physically.