Dualism and Monism in Understanding Human Beings. Cartesian dualism, Descartes distinguishes between mind and body, the mind is immaterial, and the body is material. Interactionist dualism: This perspective emphasizes the causal interaction between mind and body, mental events influencing physical events and vice versa. Monism: This theory emphasizes that the mind and body are not fundamentally different substances, but aspects of a single fundamental reality