  But Amo’s dualism faces the same problem as Descartes’s: if we accept the fact that the body senses and the mind does not, then Amo must provide an explanation for how the mind and body communicate. In particular, he must provide an explanation for how the body can sense, for instance, pain, and communicate this sensation to the purely active mind. While Amo might seem no better situated than Descartes to offer such an explanation, he does endorse an interesting definition of “idea” that may provide a starting point for such an explanation. Amo states that when we think of the manner in which a human being functions, there are four elements that must be kept separate: mind, the operation of the mind, idea, and immediate sensation. Both the mind and its operations are immaterial, he says, and immediate sensation is a property of body. However, on Amo’s view, “idea” is to be understood as “a composite entity; for there is an idea when the mind makes present to itself a sensation pre-existing in the body, and thereby brings the feeling before the mind” (Amo, 74). If by “composite”, Amo means a composite of material and immaterial substance, then this suggestion bears some resemblance to Elisabeth’s claim, above, that she thinks that there could be a material part of the soul that could account for its ability to interact with the body. Of course, explaining just how the mind makes a sensation present to itself and thus brings a feeling before it, will determine the success of any such explanation.