Descartes

Descartes states that it is conceivable to exist without having a body and at the same time, that anything conceivable is possible. Therefore, it's possible to exist without having a body. It is true that it is possible imaging to live without a body, only a mind but it is not realizable. Human beings have a body for a reason. The body allows grasping a sensation of what is around us through the senses and by creating experiences. Without senses or experiences, the possibility of reasoning and questioning are lost because we would not be able to identify feelings, objects or other minds.

Even though Descartes strongly believes that the body is not essential for the existence of a person; it is inconceivable to accept such premises due to following reasons. First of all, brain states are different from mind states but at the same time they are connected and depend of each other. Secondly, senses, which only are felt within a body, permit the compilation of experiences. Experiences also help in defining personality and without it we would not have a reason of wondering about life, existence or simply the external world. Finally, the body has a reason for existence if not why do we have it? An example is someone that is brain dead. They do not have brain activity, and they can not think but they breathe and they are alive. In reality, the assumption is that they can not think because there is not a form of proving it. At the same time, it proves the existent connection between body and mind. Body allows us to be free of feeling and create experiences helping the mind to process, analyze and question such experiences. Without body, the mind will be just software that would not have information to process.