On The Shortness Of Life And Rene Descartes Analysis

It goes without saying that one of the largest names in the entire history of philosophy has been René Descartes, the great 17th century French Philosopher to who this very is still talked about and his literature still debated upon. He has been called the father of analytical geometry and layer of the foundation for rationalism as a major school of thought. I do not deny him these titles as they are earned and I hold him in the highest respects. What I do deny Descartes is my agreement with his “Meditations on First Philosophy”, or more specifically, that of his First Meditation which is important considering the rest of the text is based upon it. The objective

But furthermore it will be this in a complete life. For a single swallow does not make bring, nor does a single day; in the same way, neither does a single day, or a short time, make a man blessed and happy. (Stevenson et al “Aristotle: The Ideal of Human Fulfillment

Much like the ancient philosopher Socrates, Seneca the young strived to uphold the idea of ethical knowledge. Not going solely after ones desires it is better to be guided by reason to truly live a happy life. The idea of virtue and the liberal studies are the key points of Seneca’s letter “On Liberal and Vocational Studies”. In Seneca’s famous letter “On Liberal and Vocational Studies”, the only way to establish virtue is through the liberal study of wisdom. The effects of having virtue can be seen through harmony, temperance, and kindness.

Roman philosopher “urged men to realize before it was too late that life, as most people led it ,

In order to understand Descartes’ way of thinking, it is crucial to note his education. He received a sufficient education in mathematics and science which led to his rejection of scholastic philosophy. He was not only taught about old philosophers such as Plato and Epictetus, but there was a recent philosopher [according to his time] named Montaigne who was a

American poet, Ralph Emerson once said that the importance of life “is not length of life, but depth of life” meaning that life is not measured by how long we live on this Earth but rather what we do with the time that we have on this Earth ("Ralph…Emerson."). The quote by Emerson is very similar to the ideology of French Renaissance philosopher Michel de Montaigne. Although the two men were from two different times, like Emerson, Montaigne also preached that life need not be measured by length but rather by use. No man knows when he is going to die therefore we need not concentrate on our death but rather we need to concentrate on the time we have living and achieve and accomplish as much as we can with the time we are granted. A great example

Unlike many other disciplines and ways of studying the world, the philosophical approach can vary from person to person and take many shapes, without restricting itself to one specific method at all time. That quality alone has given enormous freedom and variation to the work of many great philosophers, even on the subject of philosophy. To this end, we now turn our attention to Socrates and Voltaire, two of the great philosophers and their concerns and though on philosophy.

Now, it has already been mentioned how he denied the existence of his surrounding in order to prove reality little by little. However, how Descartes treats the external world after “proving” its existence has not yet been covered. By the end of the last meditation, Descartes has accepted the fact that the external world must be real. Nevertheless, he argues that the world that he perceives and the world that another perceives may, and likely do, differ. The reader is once again involved in this, but in a slightly different way than the previous invocations. In this case, the reader is involved as part of Descartes’ proof. The reader can understand that he or she observes the world in a specific way, but no one can be sure that another sees it in the same way. Due to this, the lasting effect that the reader experiences is open-mindedness. Looking inward, readers must decide whether or not they accept the world as a subjective entity. If they can accept this fact, it is likely that Descartes would say they have achieved enlightenment and truly know

What is Philosophy? Well, by conventional definition, Philosophy is the rational investigation of the truths and principles of being, knowledge, or conduct. This, while providing a contextual definition of the word philosophy, just scratches the surface of its actual meaning. In this essay we will attempt to answer “What is Philosophy?” by discussing the works of Plato and Rene Descartes. First, we begin by summarizing and comparing the theme of their works for similarities so as to better form a definition. In order to begin answering the question, “What is Philosophy?” we must comprehend each author’s method, themes, and goals throughout their works.

Man is not merely an animal, but rather a body and soul that lives forever. This is an idea that took centuries to develop, and one that still conflicts the great thinkers of our time. Descartes, who ushered in the modern age of philosophy and who is arguably the greatest questioner of Aristotle, develops his ideas on the mind body duality throughout his first six Meditations. Explaining the essential characteristics of thinking things in contrast with those of physical things, Descartes makes it clear why the mind cannot simply be the brain and why, although we physically are present, our essence, our existence, is not linked with our physical self. Descartes arguments, however well crafted

Seneca asks, “how many have plundered your life when you were unaware of your losses; how much you have lost through groundless sorrow, foolish joy, greedy, desire, the seductions of society; how little of your life was left to you”(Seneca, p. 5). Here, Seneca evokes the notion that many waste their life away concerning themselves with things that are not beneficial to gaining a virtuous life. Seneca believes that “sorrow”, “foolish joy”, “desire”, and “seduction” are futile ways to spend life since they are not productive to pursuing a life of virtue. These emotions and simple desires deviate one from achieving tranquility of mind and cause one’s life to slip by with no real meaning. Seneca and other Stoics believe a meaningful life is a tranquil one, so things that detract from tranquility should be avoided. Virgil establishes that Aeneas again has the rationality to do what is virtuous rather than be swallowed up with the fruitless time-wasters Seneca describes. For example, when many of Aeneas shipmates have died due to the storm Aeolus and Juno make, Aeneas makes a speech to his people, “My comrades, hardly strangers to pain before now, we all have weathered worse. Some god will grant us an end to this as well...Dismiss your grief and fear… our course holds firm for Latium...Save your strength for better times to come”(Virgil, 1.232-244). This

Descartes opens his Discourse by explaining that he believes that good sense, when fully developed, is the power to judge rightly (pt 1, para 1). He says that each individual has the same capacity for judgment, but differences arise based on the extent to which an individual is able to use their reason. In presenting these opinions, Descartes makes the point that it is not enough to have a good mind – the individual who possesses the good mind

Stoics propose that everything in nature is rationally ordered under the jurisdiction of the divine logos (Zeus/reason). The human soul is also believed to be a part of the divine mind. Thus, to live in accordance with reason is to live with the flow of nature (Zeus) that is equivalent to living in accordance with virtue (DL, 7.86). They recognized virtue as good, vice bad and anything else as neutral (indifferent). The neutrals can either be used for bad or good though some are preferable (for instance life and health) than others (for instance death and disease). Of these, virtues are under one’s own control but the neutrals are not. They also state that virtue is necessary and sufficient to lead a happy life. Thus this essay will argue that

The mythical phoenix is born in the ashes of its mother once she has been consumed in flame, becoming stronger than she ever was. In Discourse on Method, Descartes hopes to destroy the conventional understanding of philosophy that has been followed throughout the ages, and in doing so establish his own philosophy as the new convention in the ashes of the old philosophy. In this paper, I will present Descartes’ findings of instability in philosophy and distaste for the way people learn as his motivation for undertaking this reconstruction of his thoughts, finding a firm and lasting basis for the sciences as his end goal for the reconstruction, and his rules for conducting thought and code of doubt as the way by which he hopes to achieve

Uncountable hours have been spent on searching for the best way to use the time we have on the Earth and to live our lives to the fullest. Nevertheless, it seems that no ones has found the perfect answer. Throughout The Little Prince (1943), Antoine de Saint Exupery gives the reader a look on how society views time. In particular, de Saint Exupery offers up a critique on how many individuals value saving time and efficiency over anything else. The Little Prince is able to see this first hand through his various interactions with grownups along his journey. The novella is able to convey the fact that society has become overly consumed with the pursuit of efficiency, while some people become enthralled with a task at hand, they would not “waste time” to enjoy other things in life that may be more meaningful. However, taking your time is often more rewarding than rushing in an attempt to save time.