 Any interpretation of Descartes’ views on modality needs to be sensitive to his view that mind and body are really distinct. The conclusion of his Sixth Meditation argument for substance dualism is that “I am really distinct from my body, and can exist without it” (AT 7:78, CSM 2:54). A natural reading of Descartes’ conclusion has him saying that, for any minds and bodies that are united, it is counterfactually possible that they be  separated.[35]  His argument would be as follows: 