Meditations on First Philosophy

When the term modern philosophy is brought up, one would think of findings in the field from the 1900’s and onward. But upon looking into the subject one would find that modern philosophy starts a few hundred years back. In the 1600’s modern and western philosophy started taking root with the ideas of a great philosopher of the time, Rene Descartes. Often known as the father of modern philosophy, Descartes’, ideas and findings are greatly influential to many different fields of study today. On…

Plato, Descartes, and the Matrix There are many philosophical questions that come to mind when thinking about life, and human existence. “Epistemology is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of our knowledge.” (Dew & Foreman, 7) Epistemology is one of the branches of Philosophy that helps us dive deep into thought about many question that are in question. One question that may present itself is, what is reality? Another one is are we truly living in a dream and can’t escape it?…

Meditations I is written by Descartes. Descartes is a Greek philosopher who wrote Meditations I in 1639. Meditations I is part of a set of six Meditations and the full title of Meditations is actually Indiscernibility Skepticism Meditations on First Philosophy. During the time that Descartes was alive Galileo discovered that Earth was not the center of the universe, and in fact Earth actually rotated around the sun, not the other way around. This made everyone question their former beliefs,…

During the middle of the semester, we began discussing Eastern Philosophy. Kung Fu Tze, Lao Tze, Mo Tze, and Siddartha Gautama were the four Eastern Philosophers we discussed. Each of these philosophers had different objectives. Kung Fu Tze, also known as Confucius, believed that life ought to be lived in accordance with Heaven. Secondly, Lao Tze focused his concept around the Universe. Thirdly, Mo Tze based his philosophy on Jian Ai which is “Indiscriminate Love.” Lastly, the final philosopher…

knowledge in regards to its limits and validity, knowledge in the sense of the facts, information and skills that humans can acquire. The basis of this human knowledge has been repeatedly studied throughout the history of philosophy. When analyzing Descartes’ Meditations of First Philosophy and Hume’s Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, it is evident that they have both similarities and differences when it comes to their assessments on the foundation of human knowledge of the external…

On Rene Descartes text on Meditations on First Philosophy, he states that he has found himself going back on matters that he thought he believed to be true, and is now deciding to rebuild his knowledge from the ground up, and accepting as true only those claims which are absolutely certain. All he had previously thought he knew came to him through the senses. Through a process of methodological doubt, he no longer agrees with the process of declaring truth and knowledge through senses. At any…

(Japan guide 2018) they were drawn to the idea of Zen Buddhism as Samurai through meditation could focus their mind on becoming a better all-around elite soldier. Meditation allowed Samurai to put their mind over matter and practice and focus all their minds power on to training with the Katana or Naginata. It is said that meditation increases your brain power and makes your mind like a mirror. People say meditation is essentially no mind so when the warriors had no thoughts interrupting them…

Legalism- A negative philosophy that humans are all bad people. He incorporated this into his laws which had harsh punishments and very little rewards. Confucianism-Based on Confucius’s thinking that a person could improve. These laws were lighter and led to education reforms improving literacy. Ban Zhao- Was a female writer who believed in Confucianism and she wanted women to become more educated to live better lives. Daoism- A belief that people shouldn’t spend time on education but finding…

Rene Descartes (1596-1650) published a series of thought experiments in 1641 called Meditations on First Philosophy. At the beginning of the Third Meditation, Descartes outlines the Problem of the External World. Predictably, without reading the First and Second Meditations, the problem is difficult to grasp. Therefore, I will provide a summary of what took place before I continue. In the First Meditation, Descartes, contemplates the great number of falsehoods he has come to believe over the…

subject on Human nature. In the given paper, I am going to compare Cleanthes’ and Philo’s views on Deity and reflect upon their disagreements on the inductive argumentation, and provide the explanation of deductive reasoning in Descartes’ “Meditations of first philosophy”. The key concept of a worldview promoted by Cleanthes states that God can be beheld via one’s observations and the process of thinking. He is an advocate of a so-called “natural religion”.…