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14 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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1. What is the method he uses to do this? Describe it.
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Descartes uses the method of doubt. He doubts his own beliefs and opinions. Doubts the foundation of his opinions.
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2. What does he initially assume to be the foundation of what he has thought in the past (even while he questions it)?
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Descartes assumes that the senses are the foundation of what he thought in the past. He always thought that knowledge came from the senses.
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3. In Meditation I, does he lay bare the foundation he is looking for? (Of his senses)
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Yes, he exposed his senses to doubt.
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4. In Meditation I, does he find any things that are more difficult to doubt than other things?
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He doubts the foundation of the senses through dream scenario. This allowed him to doubt universals, colors, and spaces.
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5. (See #4) Are the things that he finds sensible?
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No
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6. If they aren’t sensible, what are they? Give some examples.
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They are known with his mind. For example, figure of extended things.
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7. What is Descartes’ situation as Meditation II begins?
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Everything seems completely doubtful to him. Even mathematics can be doubting. He has to find something certain.
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8. Does Descartes find the foundation he is looking for? Is it something preexisting?
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Yes, Descartes does find the foundation he is looking for; he finds out that he exists. In order to be deceived he has to exist. Yes it is something preexisting; he is an ego (mind), which stands for ‘I’.
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9. Once he discovers this thing’s existence, what has he discovered?
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That his ego (mind) exists. Nothing else except that.
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10. So, according to Kierkegaard, what would naturally be the next question that he would ask?
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He knows he exists; now he has to find out what he is.
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11. Once he (Descartes) has established that he is a ‘thinking thing’ (res cogitans), what does he do?
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Descartes thinks his mind can sense. He experiences sensation. He does not think that things he senses are necessarily real, but he knows from experience.
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12. Once he finds everything that is included under ‘thinking thing’, what does he do?
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He goes back to his own beliefs. Established everything that goes along with a thinking thing. Went back to believing that for example, the table is more real than his mind, when he did believe that his mind was more real than the table.
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13. At this point, is the piece of wax a real piece of wax as far as he knows? (What is he, as far as he knows, at this point?)
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No, Descartes does not think the piece of wax is real. It’s his mind that lets him see it’s a piece of wax, not his senses.
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14. What is an extended thing? (Latin for ‘extended thing’ is ‘res exstensa’ For ‘thinking thing’ it’s res cogitans).
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An extended thing is a thing that occupies space.
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