meditations 3 Flashcards
What is the theme of Meditation 3
if God exists
in meditations 3 Descartes recgonizes that he still isnt sure he exists
false in meditations 3 he knows he exists at this point
What is the argument in Meditations 3
that some ideas seemed to be forced upon me without any consent
What is the equation according to Descartes on Cause
Effect gets Reality from Cause
What are the two primary principles in Meditations 3?
- Something cannot come from nothing
- what is more perfect cannot come from what is less perfect
What is more reality cannot come from less reality using the example of 5kg stone vs 10kg stone
the cause of the idea must be equally?
real to the idea itself
true or false it is impossible for an idea of heat to be in one unless that idea has come from something else
true
What are the 3 consequences (of the principle from meditations 3)
- ideas cannot cause ideas great or more perfect
- if an idea that has more reality than one, i know that i cannot be the cause of it
- if i cannot find an idea that has more reality than me than i will not be able to produce the argument for the existance other than myself
We can create simpler ideas according to Descartes
yes
we can create more comple ideas
false
What is the idea of God?
a perfect being, infinite
How does Descartes conclude God is real
Descartes is finite and finite cannot produce infinite
- but he has an infinite thing in his mind
- Descartes is an imperfect being
- but the idea of God is in his head
- The idea of God must come from God himself
TRUE OR FALSE you cannot arrive at the divine by creating subtractions
false, perfection isnt ideas built upon each other
How does Descartes know about the infinite
because he has the understanding of what finite is and you cannot know what finite is actually unless you have the knowledge of infinite. You can use the example of a counterfeit coin you dont know its a counterfeit unless comparing to the true coin
What is another way to reword Descartes argument for God
Descartes has what it takes to come up with ideas
- he has the idea of perfect and infinite
- hes know hes not perfect nor infinite and finite cannot produce infinite
The idea of God comes from who?
God
What are the conclusions at the end of meditations 3
- either some God exists
- i am god but yet i am imperfect so therefore i cannot be God. God cannot be a deciever because decievers arise from imperfections
What are the logical steps in Meditations at the end of Chapter 3
- He knows he exists
- he wants to prove he knows a whole bunch of stuff about successful disciplines
- however even the physical world is percieved by sense but isntead the intellect from being understood
- the demon argument can still exist
- only way the demon argument doesnt exists is God exists and God cannot be a deciever can he?
Is this the question that arises at the beginning of meditations 4? God cannot be a deciever yet why do i commit errors though?
yes
Errors depend on what two concurrent causes?
- Ability to know and udnerstand
- Ability to choose freely freewill
How does one misuse Freewill according to Descartes
by affirming to something or denying it without proper reflection
What is the rule and conclusion at the end of meditation 4
Rule: If I have clarity and distinctness about something, I am not in error (God
can’t, by definition, allow error if I’m using my abilities correctly—i.e. when my
judgement doesn’t extend beyond what is C/D)
