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Rene Descartes And Hume Essay

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Originally gaining momentum during the fourth and fifth centuries BC with Socrates’ break from traditional Sophist practices, the study of modern ethical philosophy has aimed to make the most complicated questions regarding mortal life and the spiritual realm easier to comprehend. Philosophy, or “love of wisdom and truth”, juxtaposes traditional methods of learning by asserting the value of skepticism is learning through inquiry. That said, a plethora of philosophers post-Classical period have proposed solutions to matters that affect our very existence as human beings. (Olson, 1) What, for instance, are the fundamental properties that make us unique individuals with independent thoughts and opinions? Among some of the most influential …show more content…

Following this logic, Descartes formulated an argument that centered around the mind engaged in active consciousness. Originally translated from French {“Je Pense Donc Je Suis”} to the renowned Latin saying “Cogito Ergo Sem”, or “I think, therefore I am”, the intellectual suggests that thinking is connected to our existence tautologically, as a matter of logical necessity. (School of Life, 06:39) In stating that “I can doubt that I have a body, but I cannot doubt that I have a mind’, Descartes further supports this notion. He also goes on to attest to the beauty in quiet, solitary reflection. (Perdue, 1) Although his realization does not offer much solace on account of the reality of our physical world, it does suggest that the only thing that can be proven is our internal existence. By sharing the anecdote his hypothetical self-deception {perhaps not actually being beside the fireplace in a dressing gown, but asleep in bed}, Descartes argues that the thinking mind is casually influenced or affected by the physical body, and vice versa. A firm believer in grounding ideas in experience rather than tradition, Descartes relays the fickle nature of the human senses due to their deep unreliability and tendency to deceive him on occasion. Noting this lapse of discernment that directly leads back to his previous pondering of his existence, Descartes makes it clear that he is aware that he “may

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