Descartes Meditation 3 Flashcards
Perception
Something we know in our mind
Clear
“Present to the attentive mind.” Grasped by intuition or intellect or reason.
Distinct
Not from the senses.
Not confused with anything that is unclear.
“So sharply separated from all other perceptions that it contains within itself only what is clear.”
Example of a clear and distinct perception
The Cogito- ‘I am, I exist’
Example of a clear but not distinct perception
That there is an external source of the pain you perceive.
Example of a distinct but not clear perception
All distinct perceptions must be clear
Substance
Something that can exist independent of anything else.
Examples: Table, mind
Accident
A property of a substance.
Examples: Colour, Thought
Mode
A determination of an accident.
Examples: Red, Thirst
Formal Reality
Is the reality a thing possesses because it exists.
Objective Reality
is the kind of reality a thing possesses because it isa representationof something.
The Causal Principle
Greater things cannot come from lesser things.
Descartes Example: You cannot create a rock from anything less than the elements needed to make a rock.
Infinite
Limitless or endless
Finite
Limited, has an end
Another name for the clear and distinct rule
‘The natural light’
