Conner Ruhl
Professor Copley
Philosophy 1000C
4 May 2015 Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy Rene Descartes was the first great philosopher of the modern era, He had a new approach which was focused on scientific and mathematical truths. Descartes came to reject the scholastic tradition, one of which he was educated, due to his pursuit of mathematical and scientific truth. Much of Descartes work was done to secure advancement of human knowledge through the use of the natural sciences. His radical and unorthodox philosophy went against the church but Descartes managed to cautiously express his radical work in its entirety. In Descartes Meditations he focuses on universal truths and their proof of existence. In Meditation 5, Descartes speaks about his proofs of mathematical truths and the existence of god. There are 3 parts that he focuses on in his Meditation 5 and they are the distinction between fabricated and innate things, the second proof of gods existence, and his overcoming of the origins argument and recovering mathematical knowledge.
Descartes speaks about the distinction between innate and fabricated things. An innate thing is defined as something natural. Fabricated on the other hand is defined as something constructed or manufactured. According to Descartes, innate ideas have a “determinate nature, essence, or form which is unchangeable and eternal.” He uses the example of a triangle to provide proof of this. He points out what seems to be unique
Descartes’ Meditations on First Philosophy includes a proof for the existence of material objects, such as trees. Descartes accomplishes this by first doubting all things, from which he learns that he can be certain of nothing but his own existence as a thinking thing. From this established certainty, Descartes is able to provide proof for the existence of God, and, finally proof of the existence of material objects. Descartes’ proof of God, however, from which the proof of material things is made possible, is suspect: the proof relies on knowledge of clear and distinct ideas but knowledge of clear and distinct ideas relies on the existence of God. Furthermore,
In Rene Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy, Descartes does and experiment with wax to try to prove that things actually exist in this world. This essay is going to prove how we can tell that things actually exist and what can perceive the wax.
At the beginning of Meditation three, Descartes has made substantial progress towards defeating skepticism. Using his methods of Doubt and Analysis he has systematically examined all his beliefs and set aside those which he could call into doubt until he reached three beliefs which he could not possibly doubt. First, that the evil genius seeking to deceive him could not deceive him into thinking that he did not exist when in fact he did exist. Second, that his essence is to be a thinking thing. Third, the essence of matter is to be flexible, changeable and extended.
Rene Descartes’ third meditation from his book Meditations on First Philosophy, examines Descartes’ arguments for the existence of God. The purpose of this essay will be to explore Descartes’ reasoning and proofs of God’s existence. In the third meditation, Descartes states two arguments attempting to prove God’s existence, the Trademark argument and the traditional Cosmological argument. Although his arguments are strong and relatively truthful, they do no prove the existence of God.
Instead, the painters are taking two different things that already exist and combining them together. Descartes further proves this premise by accepting that it may be possible for a painter to create something new, however, the painter would have to use colours that already exist so that certain part will still be real. Descartes continues his argument by providing the premise that certain more complex disciplines, such as physics, astronomy, and medicine can be doubted but more simple disciplines, such as arithmetic and geometry cannot be doubted, for whether he is awake or asleep two plus three will always equals
In Descartes’ Meditations on First Philosophy, I will be considering if Descartes resolution to the “dreaming argument” seems acceptable to trust. The First Meditation is where the “dreaming argument” is first mentioned and then gets resolved later in the Sixth Meditation and the Objections and Replies. I will be touching on the idea that our experiences could be dreaming experiences based on personal experiences and thoughts I have had regarding this topic. Then I will go on to explain how it is possible to tell which state you are in from what Descartes has stated in his meditations and the experiences that have helped me to conclude this debatable matter. I believe that Descartes’s resolution is an adequate and in this paper I will explain why.
In his paper, Descartes was trying to find the source of his idea of God in order to prove that God exists or not. Descartes states that all of his ideas come from three different sources. All of which are either innate, caused from the outside or invented by himself (Descartes p. 10). Descartes states that innate ideas are ideas which come from our very own nature (Descartes p.10). One can conclude that we receive these type of ideas by the time we were born. The second type of ideas originates from the outside of ourselves, meaning we receive it by our senses, such as heat or noise or even the size of a certain object. Descartes mentions two examples of this type of idea in his paper. One of them being the idea of heat or warmth coming from a fire (Descartes p. 11). And another one is his idea of the small size of the sun which he receives from his senses (Descartes p.11). The last one is ideas that we invented ourselves. These ideas are the ones we created with our own mind. Some examples, as Descartes mentions in his paper, would be sirens or hippogriffs (Descartes p. 10).
Rene Descartes decision to shatter the molds of traditional thinking is still talked about today. He is regarded as an influential abstract thinker; and some of his main ideas are still talked about by philosophers all over the world. While he wrote the "Meditations", he secluded himself from the outside world for a length of time, basically tore up his conventional thinking; and tried to come to some conclusion as to what was actually true and existing. In order to show that the sciences rest on firm foundations and that these foundations lay in the mind and not the senses, Descartes must begin by bringing into doubt all the beliefs that come to him by the senses. This is done in the first of six
Throughout Rene Descartes’ Meditations on First Philosophy, God is not mentioned until the third meditation. Descartes ' point of view on God simply claims his existence through the act of being. According to his claim, God must, essentially, exist as well as being an outcome of His own creation. Descartes was greatly interested in the idea that God’s being promoted an external force that controlled all beings that supported his presence. Descartes ' declarations, presented in his Meditations on First Philosophy, were based on the principle of a being who found the primary purpose of existing through naturally being a part of this world. With the sense of curiosity, Meditation III portrayed a detailed form that showed Descartes’ writings
Arguments for the existence of God come in many different forms; some draw on history, some on science, some on personal experience, and some on philosophy. Descartes offered two arguments towards the existence of God: an informal proof in the third meditation and the ontological proof in the fifth meditation. Descartes believed that with the employment of a rational method of inquiry which applied some of the methods of analytic geometry to the study of philosophy, our ability to attain certainty and validity about our knowledge would be greatly increased.
In Descartes’ “First Meditation” he examines the things in the world that can be called into doubt. Descartes wants to know what things he could be absolutely sure of. He decides that even if something is slightly false he will treat it as though it is completely false. Descartes concludes that he cannot be sure of the physical, however he is certain of his own existence and that he is a thinking thing.
Throughout history man has always wanted to understand themselves, and to understand others. Humans have this innate wondering, this curiosity, as to what makes us who we are. What is it inside of us that allows us to exist? Sometimes the answer is as simple as looking inwards, or as René Descartes would call it, meditation. These ‘meditations’ are moments of reflection, time spent with one’s thoughts, and time to figure out where one is placed within the world. During one of these meditations, Descartes creates the phrase, “cogito ergo sum”, I think, therefore I am, in his monumental book, Principles of Philosophy, though it was written in another form earlier, “ego sum, ego existo”, I am, I exist, in his book Meditations on First Philosophy. This phrase, put so eloquently, means that because Descartes is able to think, because he is able to ponder his own existence, he therefore, exists. Descartes is correct in saying that his “self” exists because he can think, and ponder his existence.
With this foundation solidified, Descartes transitions in his second meditation to find this irrefutable certainty. The first meditation has provided the criteria for truth, that if something is to be considered true, it must rule out any possibility of fallacy, and after this Descartes dives into his pursuit of something that survives his skeptical test. The second meditation, subtitled “Concerning the Nature of the Human Mind: That It Is Better Known Than the Body”, begins with a quote regarding the previous meditation. “Yesterday’s meditation has thrown me into such doubts that I can no longer ignore them, yet I fail to see how they are to be resolved… Nevertheless I will work my way up and will once again attempt the same path I entered
Descartes begins this meditation with a review of what he is certain of so far. He is skeptical of the existence of bodily things, but s certain that he exists and that he is a thinking thing. He decides that he could not be as certain of his existence unless all clear and distinct perceptions are certain. Therefore, whatever he perceives clearly and distinctly must be true.
In the present essay, I would like to pose the question about the possibility of thinking. I am going to go back to René Descartes to start with the idea of doubting as a method to approach reality and find truth, but also the “tool” which allows the doubt: the I. For Descartes doubting, thinking and existing as an I, seems to be intimately related, however it seems that the doubt can only be guaranteed by the certainty of existence or existence by the possibility of doubting (cogito ergo sum). I will focus on the Meditations on First Philosophy, where we can try to approach Descartes’ thought and the way in which he is problematizing the idea of certainty. Also, the way in which God plays an essential role in his structure or thought, methodology and cogito. I will also work