Descartes vs. Pascal
For centuries, human beings have been debating over the validity of the use of reason. This is a very, very difficult subject to discuss, as one is forced to study something which is at that moment being used in their study.
Two classic thinkers who contrasted on their view of reason were Descartes and
Pascal. Though both saw reason as the primary source of knowledge, they disagreed over the competence of human reason. Descartes, the skeptic, said that we could use reason to find certain truth if we used it correctly, while
Pascal said that we can't know certain truth, but reason is the best source of knowledge that we have.
Descartes:
Reason is the tool
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This is a very useful step, because I can take my idea that a perfect being (God) exists. Since this idea is greater than myself, there must be a perfect being who has caused this idea in me. Continuing on, if there is a perfect God, than I can logically deduce that a perfect being would not give me a deceptive faculty. If we do not have deceptive faculties, than we can know for certain that we can trust our senses with certainty.
The certainties that I have arrived at by starting with the one certainty can be known with complete certainty because they were arrived at using rational, logical reasoning. It is true that we can doubt that God exists, yet this skepticism is superseded by rationality. We used a rational argument which is based upon certainties; therefore, we know with 100% certainty that God exists. Pascal:
Rene Descartes must realize that our world is not like mathematics. As I have stated, “Let man consider what he is in comparison with all existence; let him regard himself as lost in this remote corner . . . What is a man in the infinite?” (Pascal, #72). How can we expect to gain a grip on certain knowledge when we cannot even grasp where we are in relation to all of reality. Descartes was right in saying that reason is the basis of all of our knowledge, but he must realize that we have severe limitations in our use of reason.
We have been
almost polar opposite of reason is showed in the numerous philosophers he references in the
Pascal said that we can't know certain truth, but reason is the best source of
In general, it was a philosophical, intellectual, and cultural movement that accentuated reason and logic over dogma and superstition, which was a part of traditional medieval Christianity. 3) Passage 2, John Locke. Locke argues that reasoning is more than deductive reasoning. Rather than trusting your own ideas, he states that “Reason is natural revelation” in which things created by God are proof enough and need no certainty. Faith is considered as a communication from God.
The traditional God in the Judeo-Christian tradition is known to be as an “Omni-God” possessing particular divine attributes such as omniscient, which means he knows everything he is also omnipotent, or all powerful. God has also been said to be also he is omnipresence which means he exists in all places and present everywhere, however there are many philosophical arguments on whether if any of that is actually true or if there is a God at all. This paper argues that it is not possible to know whether the traditional God exists or not. While there have been philosophers such as Aquinas, Anselm, Paley and Kierkegaard who are for god and present strong argument, likewise philosopher like Nietzsche and arguments like the problem of evil both make valid point on why God isn’t real.
Anselm’s Ontological Argument argues for the existence of an all-perfect God. The Ontological Argument assumes that Existence is a great making property. Critiques of Anselm and his version of the Ontological Argument argue that existence is not a great making property. If the critics are correct, they have completely bested Anselm, and destroyed his argument. In this essay, I will argue on behalf of Anselm’s argument and defend existence as a great making property.
Anselm believed in a perfect being theology, and support for premise one resides within Anselm's Principle of God's Necessary Perfection (Marenbon 121). A being 'that which nothing greater can be conceived' is by definition the greatest being, or most perfect being, possible. He uses the idea that 'that which nothing greater can be conceived' exists in someone's mind as a starting point, and seeks to build upon this foundation to show that God necessarily exists in reality as well. If it could not be conceived in one's understanding, then as far as this argument is concerned, it couldn't be shown to exist in reality as well.
James attempts to establish a will or right to believe. On the other hand, Pascal establishes reasons for logically believing God. This paper will discuss their individual arguments and proceed to show that Pascal’s argument is the more convincing argument of the two. 2. James James view was formulated in response to William Clifford’s view, who argued that “it is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone, to believe anything on insufficient evidence.”
Rene Descartes, a rationalist, said that each person contains the criteria for truth and knowledge in them. Finding truth and knowledge comes from the individual themselves, not necessarily from God. Descartes also believed that reason is the same for every single person. Descartes believed that nothing could be true unless we as humans could perceive it. He also believed that you could break down things into smaller simpler parts. Descartes also believed that there was a relationship between the mind and body. He also believed that the idea of being perfect originated from God since God himself was perfect. He also integrates his mathematical concepts into his methodology. Descartes also applied doubt to his ideas before he
Edmund Gettier’s argument that justified true belief is not a sufficient definition for knowledge is correct. There are many scenarios in which the conditions for justified true belief are met but cannot be said to qualify as knowledge; therefore justified true belief is not a sufficient definition for knowledge.
exists and his idea of what a perfect being is, such as God, then God exists.
are thinking things which are constantly having experiences of what we think is reality or the world without. These
In a quote previously shown, Descartes claims that his idea of a perfect being comes from God. Descartes also believes that the idea
“Now I want the readers to understand that just because someone has an explanation for something, that doesn’t make it true. The Greeks
I would like to explain this claim by using another example in another area of knowledge i.e. art. Take the example of Mona Lisa painting, some people find that she is actually looking at the viewer, some think that she is not looking at them, some find that she is crying in the painting and some picturize her as smiling. So all these viewers are right in their way, as we cannot blame anyone saying that no Mona Lisa is smiling or no Mona Lisa is crying or anything for that matter. This really depends on the perception, emotions and reasoning ability of the viewer. As, if the viewer, who is in a happy mood, may find her smiling and those viewers who are not in a good mood may find her crying. So it depends upon the state of mind of the person who is watching the painting at that time. In this situation reasoning is dominated by emotion.
The production of knowledge is a process that occurs through a sequence of related actions, these series of actions allows for the Ways of Knowing to interact in a way that works to develop the knowledge that is being produced. From the prescribed title we can claim that while the Ways of Knowing may appear to be acting in isolation when forming knowledge, they are actually working in a variety of different ways in the construction and formation. In some cases, the Ways of Knowing are interacting so closely together that it is often hard to differentiate between them, for example emotion and reason, or imagination and memory. Given the right circumstances faith can be isolated to a point where it can be acting by itself to produce knowledge. However, this knowledge is often deemed as unreliable, due to faith being seen as one of the more “subjective” ways of knowing. This inability to differentiate the ways of knowing from each other during the production of knowledge, raises the questions “Can any knowledge in any Area of Knowledge be produced by a single Way of Knowing?” and “Is it possible to distinguish between Ways of Knowing if they are working together?”. While reason is used in almost all production of knowledge, it is the other Ways of Knowing used that can determine whether the knowledge is reliable or not, as some Ways of Knowing are more subjective than others. This essay will attempt to