Rene Descartes

Question 1

What was Descartes method of doubt?

Answer 1

He wanted to create a philosophy that was in line with mathematics
If there were definitive answers in math then there should be in philosophy as well

Method:
-doubt and continue doubting until you reach a conclusion you can no longer doubt it anymore
-look at everything with suspicion

Question 2

What is I think, therefore I am in latin + explain what it means

Answer 2

Cogito Ergo Sum

Sometimes we may start to think of existential thoughts and doubt our own existence but Descartes says this is impossible because..

We doubt
If we are doubting we are thinking
If we are thinking we exist
I think, therefore I am.

Question 3

Explain God and his existence

Answer 3

We must have some underlying knowledge of what is perfect or else we wouldn’t be able to know or understand what is truly perfect

He believes that the idea of God is something that is innate and comes from within because God is perfect, immutable, eternal

It is a priori to the idea of the finite and the imperfect

Question 4

How do you tell two things are clearly distinct from each other?

Answer 4

1. “Clear” They must be able to exist without each other
2. “Distinct” Are really different from other objects

Question 5

All things we apprehend..

Answer 5

belong to the realm of possibility

Question 6

Explain the whole concept of the body and mind

Answer 6

Descartes has a theory that in order to truly distinct two substances from each other they must be “clear” and “distinct” meaning that they don’t require each other to exist and they are completely different to the attentive mind.

There was a mind-body problem and Descartes proposed a way to solve it. He believed that the mind and body are truly apart from each other.

The mind = a thinking thing
Body = an unthinking thing

They are different and do not require each other to exist

Question 7

What is a substance

Answer 7

An existent thing that requires nothing but itself in order to exist (God)

Can be applied secondarily to creatures
Thinking substance: have emotions, thoughts, mental processes
Extended substances: physical object, size, shape, space

Question 8

Cartesian Dualism what is it?

Answer 8

Cartesian dualism is a concept created by philosopher Rene Descartes stating that the world consists of two distinct substances: the mind (or soul) and the body.

There are two portions:

Unextended thinking substance (not in space)
-thinking
-consciousness
-thoughts
-emotions
-self-awareness

Extended unthinking substance (in space)
-physical
-measurable and sensible
-corporeal substance

Although these are completed in different spaces and cannot physically interact, they are connected through the pineal gland in the brain

Question 9

Is there a world outside my mind? MEMORIZE

Answer 9

Although being a thinking thing doesn’t prove the existence of his body, sense and movement indicate the presence of a body.
Occupy space and involve extension

God would not put a corporeal substance in the world if it were not real since he is a non-deceiver

In essnece…

Descartes says sensory experiences imply the existence of a physical world beyond his own mind and God’s non-deceptive nature makes it so that he wouldn’t implant a corporeal substance in the world if it wasn’t real
External objects are real