Descartes Meditation 3

Question 1

Where was Descartes at the end of Med 2 ?

Answer 1

• He had discovered the cogito (I am, I exist)
• He only has proof that a thinking thing exists because something has to exist in order to be deceived.
• He has not proven anything else yet.

Question 2

What are the aims for Med 3 ?

Answer 2

• To prove that Descartes physically exists.
• To further provide reason and evidence for the cogito
• To prove the existence of God

Question 3

What does clear and distinct mean?

Answer 3

Descartes begins by considering what makes the cogito so special. Descartes has a clear and distinct perception of the cogito.
Perception - when we see things with our minds.
Clear - “present to the attentive mind. As clear as when we see things with our own eyes. It can be understood using reason or intellect.
Distinct - “So sharply separated from all other perceptions that it contains within itself only what is clear”

Question 4

What is the clear and distinct rule ?

Answer 4

Anything else that Descartes can perceive as clear and distinct can be considered true knowledge and can be used to rebuild his theory of knowledge.

Question 5

What else does Descartes want to do in Med 3?

Answer 5

Remind readers of his aim to build a theory of knowledge that cannot be doubted and his method of doubt and that he will continue to use it.

Question 6

What are the degrees of reality?

Answer 6

Substance (most reality)
An accident (less reality)
Mode (least reality)

Question 7

Explain substance

Answer 7

Anything that can exist independent of anything else.

Question 8

Explain an accident

Answer 8

A property of a substance.

Question 9

Explain mode

Answer 9

The determination of a property.

Question 10

Give examples of degrees of reality.

Answer 10

Substance - table
Accident - colour
Mode - brown

Question 11

What is formal reality?

Answer 11

The reality a thing possesses because it exists.
The sun has formal reality because it actually exists.
A unicorn has no formal reality because they don’t exist.

Question 12

What is objective reality?

Answer 12

The kind of reality a thing possesses because it is a representation of something.

Question 13

What is the Causal Adequacy Principle?

Answer 13

“Something cannot arise from nothing and also that what is more perfect… cannot arise from what is less perfect.

Translation - Greater things cannot come from lesser things.

Question 14

What does Descartes know from the Natural Light?

Answer 14

That the cause of something must have as much reality as the effect.

Question 15

What example does Descartes use for the CAP ?

Answer 15

A stone - cannot exist without being created by something which contains all that is found within a stone.

Heat - cannot be produced by something that was not hot.

Question 16

What is the trademark argument?

Answer 16

This is when Descartes tries to prove the existence of God. He says that his mind is finite but God is infinite. Something that is finite and less good can’t create something infinite and better, therefore, his mind did not create God and so God is real.

Question 17

What are the criticisms of Med 3?

Answer 17

• Descartes needs God to build up the Cogito and prove that he exists and to move past the cogito, without God he faces a dead end.

Question 18

What is the issue with the trademark argument?

Answer 18

It relies on our innate idea of God and perfection and infinite.

Question 19

What is the issue with the Causal Adequacy Principle?

Answer 19

Some lesser things can create bigger things. For example, whisper cause avalanches or a matchstick causing a huge fire.

Question 20

What is Descartes response to the criticisms of the CAP?

Answer 20

The match and the fire are both substances so they both have the same amount of reality.
The avalanche is not just caused by whispers but by an accumulation of things.

Question 21

What are the issues with degrees of reality?

Answer 21

• The concept of having more or less reality does not make sense and it is an outdated view.
• What makes sense is that they either exist or they don’t
• This undermines Descartes reasoning for God because you have to rely on degrees of reality otherwise Descartes’ whole argument would collapse.

Question 22

What is the issue with innate ideas?

Answer 22

People have different ideas of God.