Meditations 2: on the nature of the human mind; and that it is easier to know than the body

Question 1

what is the cogito

Answer 1

I think therefore I am

Question 2

what assumptions are made about the cogito

Answer 2

• about making oneself exist, that by thinking I make myself exist: No, By thinking you only grantee that you already exist. You can only have been brought into existence by the evil demon/god.
• about the mind body distinction, that this is Descartes arguing for Dualism: He doesn’t know fore sure that the body exists, he isn’t arguing for dualism right now, too complex.
• What does the cogito mean? It is not possible for me to not exist if I am aware that I am thinking therefore my existence is undoubtiable because I am thinking.

Question 3

who did Descartes get the idea of the cogito of?

Answer 3

St Augustine
Descartes was trying to build on this idea of the cogito into a new foundation on which science and religion could be combined.

Question 4

In what ways is the cogito limited

Answer 4

• the cogito is reflexive-it is about itself, which is how it guarantees the existence of what it is bringing about (I). Because it is about itself it is indoubtable doesn’t make any sense if it isn’t reflexive: the cogito would not work to secure the existence of anything else. Eg I think therefore the orange exists. Could lead to solipsism?
• Simon Blackburn: One minute rock-it is only self-guaranteeing only whilst it is being believed/thought about. Meaning you would have to be constantly thinking about the cogito to know you exists and therefore wouldn’t be able to think of anything else. Cannot trust memory.

Question 5

what is the argument from validity and circularity

Answer 5

a valid argument is one where if its premise is true its conclusion must be true eg All bachelors are male, jo is a bachelor therefore Joe is male.
What happens if we do this to the cogito?
In order to think you must exist
I think
Therefore I exist
Descartes premise can be found in the conclusion of his argument-the argument is therefore circular.
and as we have already seen the cogito cannot grantee itself in any other way.
not a deductive argument

Question 6

explain the real distinction

Answer 6

is Descartes making an argument for dualism at this point? NO.
“I do not know; I am not debating this point now”.
At this point Descartes is willing to accept his mind and body could be the same even if he isn’t sure about the existence of his body and he is sure about the existence of his mind.
at this point as far as he knows he is only a thinking thing but as we have established he doesn’t think he knows very much at this point.

Question 7

explain the illustration of Arnold’s objection

Answer 7

Even though I know that all triangles drawn in a semi circle have 1 right angle I may not know that a, b and c are all related. However just because I do not know one theory does not mean the 2 triangles aren’t the same or do not share the same properties.

Question 8

explain the illustration of the fallacy of the masked man

Answer 8

I know my father’s name is Nick therefore he cannot be the masked man because I do not know the name of the masked man.