Rene Descartes

Question 1

who is the Allegory of the cave by?

Answer 1

Plato

Question 2

explain the Allegory of the cave

Answer 2

3 prisoners are trapped in a cave since birth. They see shadows displayed on walls and believe they are real objects. However one of the prisoners of the cave escape and comes to realise that the shadows are not real objects. On his return he explains this to his fellow prisoners but they do not believe him and threaten to kill him.

Question 3

what is the meaning of allegory of the cave ?

Answer 3

it is trying to show that there is more than the face value and we should ask questions about it to explore and find out the truth. it also shows people often don’t want to find out the truth , the fellow prisoners.

Question 4

whats the 3 types of knowledge in epistemology ?

Answer 4

operational , propositional and knowledge by acquaintance

Question 5

give example of operational knowledge ?

Answer 5

driving a car

Question 6

propositional

Answer 6

stated facts i.e Edinburgh is capital of Scotland

Question 7

knowledge by acquaintance

Answer 7

the colour orange

Question 8

what is the tripartite theory of knowledge

Answer 8

this is a claim that knowledge must tick 3 boxes, belief, truth and justification. This will reveal whether the information is true or not. Truth is that the information is correct. Belief is having a strong conviction and justification is having the ability to prove the case.

Question 9

what is the Gettier problem ?

Answer 9

this is a criticism of the tripartite theory of knowledge ( explain what this is ) the gettier problem is accidental correctness . it occurs when the 3 criteria belief,justification and truth have been met but the knowledge does not feel true . the gettier problem challenges the claim that the 3 criteria being met is sufficient.

Question 10

what is the infinite regress and example ?

Answer 10

This is a criticism of the tripartite theory of knowledge . it is a never ending chain of justification. this is because we need to justify our justification. show diagram t-j-j-j-j-j-.
a child asking the question why all the time.

Question 11

give an example of the gettier problem

Answer 11

A farmer has a favourite cow called daisy. he checks on her every night to make sure she is safe. One night the farmers son went to check daisy was safe. the son believed daisy was safe on the field , however he didn’t actually see daisy , instead he saw a black and white bag and believed it was daisy. The next day ,they realised this but daisy was still safe. This shows that the 3 boxes of the tripartite theory have been ticked even though the information is not correct.

Question 12

what is scepticism , what do sceptics support ?

Answer 12

This Is the belief that nothing can be known for certain. sceptics support the Gettier principle , accidental correctness. This is because they doubt everything.

Question 13

what is empiricism ?

Answer 13

This is an inductive form of knowledge, empiricist believe that the foundations for knowledge lie in our experiences , senses and the sciences. Empiricists also believe in the Tabula Rasa. This is the belief that our minds start as blank slates and as we go on with our life knowledge is acquired and we write our knowledge.

Question 14

what is rationalism ?

Answer 14

This is a deductive form of knowledge. Rationalists believe that the foundations for our knowledge lie in innate knowledge. This is knowledge that we have since birth that we have always had.

Question 15

Explain the analogy of a block of marble and rationalism

Answer 15

our innate ideas that we have always had since birth can be compared to a block of marble. A block of marble needs to be shaped but the makings have always been present.

Question 16

what occurred during the time Descartes wrote the mediations ?

Answer 16

There was a lot of uncertainty and doubt. This was because there was a movement called , the Reformation of the churches which is when the church split into 2 , catholics and protestants. Galileo also challenged the belief that the earth was flat , which a lot of society believed was true. Also there was the discovery of the Americas.

Question 17

Why is Descartes writing The Meditations and what is his aim ?

Answer 17

During Descartes time , there was a lot of upheaval in society as beliefs were being proved wrong that a lot of people believed in, for example the earth was round instead of being flat. Descartes Aim was to find foundations which all knowledge could be rooted to. By finding these sturdy foundations Descartes hoped to eliminate the mistakes that were occurring in society with false knowledge.

Question 18

what are the 3 dreams of Rene Descartes ?

Answer 18

Awakened by thunder
dreams of book
in a street

Question 19

Explain Rene’s dreams about awakening by thunder

Answer 19

He is awakened by what he believes to be thunder but it is infact the coal of his fire making a sharp explosive noise. This reveals that Descartes is frightened by a noise he hears often and should be aware of what it is.

Question 20

Explain Rene’s dream about a book

Answer 20

He dreams about a book which upon opening realises is a dictionary. He notices a second book which is filled with poetry. An unknown man comes up to him and tells him a poem. He flicks through the poetry book to find it but cannot find the poem. He then proceeds to flick through the dictionary but finds that some of the pages are missing. This reveals that uncertainty and doubt as well as confusion.

Question 21

Explain Descartes’s dream about the street

Answer 21

He dreams he is walking along an unknown street when a ghost passes him. He tries to run but his right side is sore and he cannot flee. During this time the wind also tried to blow him over and he spins. He enters a church for refuge but realises he past someone he knows so goes back to greet them. This reveals that Descartes did not recognise someone he should have.

Question 22

What is Descartes aim of meditations one ?

Answer 22

his aim is to eliminate knowledge which can be doubted.

Question 23

What is Descartes method in meditations one ?

Answer 23

He uses the method of doubt to eliminate any knowledge that contains doubt. He erases everything to the ground as this will provide stable foundations for knowledge to be built. He adopts this method as it is better to build a house on stable foundations than the unsound foundations he had before , full of uncertainty i.e earth is flat.

Question 24

Is Descartes a sceptic ?

Answer 24

no he adopts sceptical arguments to identify beliefs which escape this sceptical view. By doing so he will find certainty which he is looking for.

Question 25

what 3 sceptical arguments does Descartes and why?

Answer 25

mistrust of the senses argument
The dreaming argument
The evil Demon argument

he uses these sceptical arguments to see which beliefs remain and are therefore seen as certain knowledge.

Question 26

What is the sceptical argument of The mistrust of the senses ?

Answer 26

Descartes begins his method of doubt by saying that we cannot trust our senses because they have deceived us in the past. For example an object looking different close up than what it looked like further away. Descartes conclusion is that we cannot trust a posteriori knowledge , or knowledge from the senses.

Question 27

what is Descartes next step after the sceptical argument of the mistrust of the senses ?

Answer 27

Descartes must take his scepticism to the next level by introducing the Dream Hypotheses or dreaming argument

Question 28

What is the dream argument or dream hypothesis ?

Answer 28

This argument challenges all a posteriori knowledge , knowledge from experience. Descartes states that we cannot tell whether we are dreaming or not , because of this he believes we can never trust our senses. However , a priori knowledge survives the dream hypothesis and because of this Descartes believes that a priori knowledge can be trusted.

Question 29

What is the sceptical argument of the evil demon ?

Answer 29

He realised after the dream hypothesis that he couldn’t find knowledge that was firm and lasting by using our senses. He did however realise that a priori knowledge survived the dream hypothesis. Descartes is also sure that god exists and that he is supremely good. However as Descartes is searching for certainty he must challenge beliefs he strongly believes are true. So he therefore supposes that god is an evil deciever and now even a prior knowledge can be doubted , and Descartes has reached universal doubt.

Question 30

What has Descartes achieved by the end of mediations 1 ?

Answer 30

He has achieved the demolition of a priori knowledge through the evil demon and posteriori knowledge through mistrust of the senses and the dream hypothesis. He has therefore reached universal doubt.

Question 31

what is Descartes next steps after meditations one ?

Answer 31

He needs to find a piece of knowledge that can overcome the evil demon, as this knowledge will be firm and lasting. This piece of knowledge will then form the foundations for further knowledge.

Question 32

explain the criticism of meditations one that Descartes was not sincere

Answer 32

Descartes method relied on him demolishing knowledge if it contained any doubt or suspicions in it being untrue. However, many believe Descartes only doubted key ideas such as god for publicity. However, this criticism is not very strong as Descartes was only pretending to be a sceptic to find certainty. Therefore he was never going to be completely sincere.

Question 33

explain the criticisms of Descartes sceptical argument , the dream hypothesis.

Answer 33

Descartes says that we cannot distinguish between reality and dreaming when we are sleeping. However we can, this is because dreams don’t have linearity and jump abut but real life does have linearity. Also strange occurrences normally occur in dreams that don’t apply to real life. Because of linearity and absurd occurrences I disagree with Descartes suggestion that we cannot distinguish between reality and dreaming . Therefore this is a strong criticism of the dream hypothesis.

Question 34

explain the criticism that Descartes meditation one leads to a sceptical dead end ?

Answer 34

By Descartes demolishing a posteriori knowledge through the mistrust of the senses and the dream hypothesis. As well as introducing the evil demon to demolish a priori knowledge by believing god is deceiving us. This leads to a sceptical dead end as universal doubt has been reached.

Question 35

explain the criticism that the senses don’t deceive us in meditations one.

Answer 35

Descartes uses the sceptical argument of the mistrust of the senses. From this he realises that we cannot trust our senses as they have deceived us in the past. However , if we describe senses properly , it is maybe wrong to say they deceive us. For example we may use our senses too early by thinking we know someone in the distance.

Question 36

what has occurred at the start of meditations two ?

Answer 36

Descartes is in despair at the task ahead and he is in “ a deep whirlpool”. He believes that he now knows nothing for certain and there appeared to be no foundations to find certain knowledge.

Question 37

what is the aim of mediations 2 ?

Answer 37

to find knowledge that surpasses the evil demon as this will form the foundations that certain knowledge can be rooted to.

Question 38

what is the cogtio?

Answer 38

Descartes realised that in order to be deceived by the evil demon he must exist. The phrase “ I am , I exist” is concluded. This is a self evident truth as it defeats the infinite regress, to search for justification is meaningless. The phrase “ I am , I exist” lead to Descartes reflecting in what the I meant. He believed that the I meant he was able to think.

Question 39

does the cogito overcome the evil demon ?

Answer 39

yes the phrase “ I am , I exist “ surpasses the evil demon and this results in descartes believing that rationalism and not empiricism should be the foundations of knowledge.. This is because the senses , ( empiricism) was defeated although reason ( rationalism) survived the evil demon.