Descartes Flashcards
What knowledge Descartes want to accomplish?
The knowledge that Descartes wants is a firm and stable ground to do Science.
What is the method of doubt? (150 - 300 words) (incl dream argument)
Decartes wants to get rid of his false believes. To do so he uses a process of doubting all his believes to the point that he has none. From this point, he seeks to regain certainty about what is true to establish a solid foundation for science.
In his method of doubt, Descartes starts from the point that your senses can deceive you, so you can’t trust your perceptions. Even things nearby or large can’t be trusted, as you might be dreaming. Here the dream argument gets introduced.
Argument:
1. I don’t know if I’m dreaming.
2. If I’m dreaming, my senses could be deceiving me.
3. Since I can’t be sure if I’m dreaming, I must doubt all my beliefs, as they could all be false..
What is the notion of vivid and clear ideas for Descartes
The notion of “vivid and clear” is difficult to define. What he means by these terms is more about how something feels. For example, when he says triangles must have three sides, it FEELs vivid and clear because there’s no reason to doubt it—it seems self-evident.
Why vivid and clear ideas are true even in dreams. And why this matters for his project.
Descartes’ “vivid and clear” ideas are true even in dreams because they are self-evident and logically undeniable, like “triangles have three sides.” This matters for his project because, even if he’s dreaming or being deceived, these ideas give him a certain and reliable foundation for knowledge.
What is the role of the evil genius
some things both true while sleeping as while being awake, like arithmetic, geomitry and other studies of the simplest and most general things. The Evil Genius is introduced as an additional messure to doubt even these certain things.
What is the ontological argument?
- God is perfect
- To be perfect you must exist
- So God exists
What is the difference between the proof of god in meditation 3 & 5? (The causal argument for the existence of God.
The ontological argument for the existence of God.)
- In III (causal), it had to do w/ what caused the idea of God in Descartes
- In V (Ontological), it has to do with the content of the concept of God (what is entailed by the concept of god itself)
What is the relationship between cause, effect & substance in reality? & how does Descartes use that to proof god?
- Something can’t come from nothing—it must be caused by something.
- A cause must have as much reality as its effect. If an effect is bigger than its cause, it’s not real, like Neymars schwalbe.
- An idea must be caused by something as substantial as the idea itself (e.g., the idea of a dog in my mind must be caused by something as real as a dog).
- The more substantial the idea, the more real it is. I am more substantial than properties so those ideas can come from me. The idea of god (an infinite being) in me can be caused by me (a finite being) because the idea of good is more substantial than me. So only God could have caused that idea in me.
