Test 3: Theory of Knowledge Flashcards
who was rene descartes
17th century French philosopher; known as the father of modern philosophy
what did descartes develop
the methodological skepticism
what did this skepticism mean he had to do
he wiped all information he had off the table and fired out what he could add back onto it
what did descartes discover with his skepticism
he couldnt figure out or prove a thing
because he couldnt prove anything, what was it that he somewhat figured out about people
that because we experience things through our senses (fallible) that its actually impossible for us to know anything; everything that you think you know is just varying levels of belief that we have for something
after he couldnt figure anything out what did he finally admit to “knowing”
that he himself existed; for him to ask the questions about what exists then something actually has to exist for him to ask the question
what is his idea about things existing for him to ask questions called
Cogitoergosum
what does Cogitoergosum essentially mean
I think, therefore i am
what else did Descartes believe in
the different axioms in geometry and how a square always has four sides and no matter who you are or what you believe in that is the honest truth and you can’t do anything to change/deny that
ontological argument
the definition of a square necessitates the existence of a square and the definition of God necessitates the existence of God
what else did Descartes think of
cartesian dualism
what is cartesian dualism
the universe is composed of two distinct things
what are the two things that cartesian dualism thinks that the universe is composed of
matter of things that we see everyday and the non material substance of mind and spirit
what did Descartes believe about the supernatural concept
ghosts and souls were subject to scientific and logical inquiry like everything else; thought he found our soul in the brain located in the pineal gland
how is descartes applied to our life and what does that mean to him and us
a lot of things that we learned in school traces back to him in some way, which is ironic because his central philosophy system is that everything we learned in school or anywhere is wrong; or is it; WE DONT KNOW
what is methodological skepticism also known as
method of doubt
in short what is methodological skepticism
descartes is trying o find something that he can be certain about; the method is to put aside everything that is open to even the least amount of doubt
what was descartes hypothesis called
dream hypothesis
what is dream hypothesis
that he cannot really prove that he is not in a dream all the time. he could continually be under an illusion, because what he thinks his senses are telling him sabot a real world independent of his mind, thus being open to doubt, therefore it must set aside
what did descartes think about truth and doubt
if after all doubting was evaluated that something was left undoubted that it would become absolutely certain; then that is analyzed about why it wasn’t doubted and then that with will provide him with a criterion of truth and knowledge
what was descartes evil demon conjecture
that for all he knows, some malevolent demon devotes himself to deceiving me at every turn so that he regards as true and certain propositions that are in fact false
what did descartes think about god and what did that mean for things around us
he believed that he had certain knowledge that God existed; he felt that he knew for certain that God would not deceive the thinking mind with perceptions of an external world, if such things did not exist; for descartes this meant that there were two separate and distinct substances
what were the two substances according to descartes
extension, mind
extension
occupancy of space
