Meditations on First Philosophy

2017 Assignment Two: Descartes Rene Descartes was a mathematician, a physicist and most importantly, a philosopher. He was one of the first to spread modern philosophy and did so by using accepted scientific knowledge. He is famous for his proposition, “cogito ergo sum”, which in English translates to “I think therefore I am.” In Descartes’ Meditation on First Philosophy, he takes on a few tasks to come to his ultimate conclusion. He uses the Method of Doubt to get rid of all his preexisting…

In René Descartes’ Meditations on First Philosophy, the author aims to create an unshakable foundation of metaphysics for the sciences. In doing so, the work’s meditator comes to conclude that he is a thinking substance distinct from material substance, and thus all mental substances are independent of corporeal bodies. Central to how this view explains conscious experience of sensing and perceiving external bodies is the interaction between the mental substance of the mind and corporeal…

In Descartes’ Meditations of First Philosophy, he spends the First Meditation rationalizing that the senses could be deceiving us and that they are not foundational beliefs (Descartes, pg.12). He later justifies that we do not view the essence or true nature of objects through the senses, but rather, through the intellect. However, he agrees that it was God who permits us the capacity of the senses and the involuntary use of them. So then why does God give us sensory perceptions? If the true…

European Philosophy? Perhaps by acknowledging that Descartes is important, not for what he “thought” was “indubitable,” but for the dialogue he started about what he necessarily conceived, as such, being demonstrably wrong. I think that is a fair statement, and I have no intention of expounding upon that for this review. My intent is not to abuse or discredit him, but instead, to elucidate the imperative role that the Meditations on First Philosophy play in all conversation about philosophy. …

In “Meditations on First Philosophy: Second Meditation”, Descartes expands upon the doubting originated in the First Meditation, however his doubt is focused on the nature of his being. Descartes argument is that the mind and body are separate things, and that he can only consider himself a thinking thing. In this paper, I will argue that the body is part of the human nature and it is not human nature to be just a mind. Descartes begins his meditation by stating that he previously believed…

we live on is true or not. How can tell the difference between dream and reality? How can we make sure that what we believe now is true? The movie leave the viewers with huge unanswered questions. Descartes reveals in his masterpiece Meditations on First Philosophy that everything around him maybe deceiving him. There is an unseen powerful and malicious god who is trying every effort to deceive him. He then comes to the conclusion that perhaps all of his experiences are being conjured up by…

In the Meditations on First Philosophy, Descartes attempted to establish a firm and permanent foundation for scientific knowledge. Philosophers raise the question of whether or not Descartes ' epistemological project was successful. Antoine Arnauld criticized Descartes ' project and accused him of circular reasoning. Many philosophers try to defend Descartes from this objection. However, Arnauld 's objection makes a valid criticism, which shows that Descartes ' epistemological project ultimately…

In René Descartes’ Meditations of the First Philosophy: Third Edition, he remarks “I am... precisely nothing but a thinking thing” (p. 27). The possibility that Descartes is nothing but a thinking thing brings in the question of the physical existence of his bodies or even if he exists in the first place. Once Descartes has established that he is a thinking thing, he is convinced that as long as he is thinking he must exist. The action of sensing his surroundings is a form of thought. As long as…

In his Meditations on First Philosophy, Rene Descartes proposes the argument: “Nothing further now remains but to inquire whether material things exist. And certainly I at least know that these may exist insofar as they are considered as the objects of pure mathematics, since in this aspect I perceive them clearly and distinctly” (451) Essentially Descartes is putting forth the assertion that only the mathematical characteristics of objects can be clearly and distinctly perceived as being…

In Meditations on First Philosophy written by René Descartes, he offers a formulation that as long as I am thinking, I must exist. And the meaning of “I” turns out to be “a thinking thing” (4). However, I come up with a different idea. I am thinking because I already exist instead of that I am thinking; therefore, I exist. It makes a difference because thinking of something only proves the process exists. In the second meditation, Descartes holds the idea that thinking proves a person’s…