René Préval

In the finality of Descartes' first meditation, the meditator is already facing supreme doubt of all formerly inherited and empirical knowledge and builds an approach towards creating a foundation of doubt on all previous beliefs. Believing to have called all of their beliefs into question, the meditator still demands reason to doubt arithmetic and geometric knowledge – a knowledge that to them feels most intuitive; a “perfect knowledge”. To this, the meditator raises a hypothesis that applies…

1. Discuss the philosophies of Descartes, Spinoza, and Leibnitz. How did they affect the Baroque era? Are there parts of their philosophies you agree with or disagree with? What are they? Why? The philosophy of Descartes was, “I think, therefore I am” and that God created us then left us alone. Spinoza believed that everything has a purpose and that “God and Nature” were the same. He explained that Freedom is the choice to say “Yes”, and understand why the results happen. Leibniz…

Ideas are whatever is perceived or understood about something; despite this simple definition, humankind's capacity to acquire and understand these complex thoughts remains a controversy in philosophical literature. As major role models in the foundation of modern philosophy, Descartes and Locke feud over the definition of these ideas, the acquisition of these concepts, and the content of these thoughts. Descartes identifies with a rationalistic view where knowledge is based on innate ideas and…

The ideas of truth and falsity are familiar concepts that pertain to any number discussion topics, especially those regarding higher power and error. In Descartes’ Meditations on First Philosophy, he seeks to validate his own thoughts, ideas, and beliefs through reasoning, and in doing so raises questions about the existence of God and the sources for error. Through the course of his argument, his premises and conclusions debate these topics, which allows the Meditations to be followed as a…

René Descartes, the famous French philosopher and brilliant 17th century Scholar is credited worldwide as the founder of modern western philosophy for his works in the fields of Ontology – a branch of metaphysics regarding the ‘nature of being’- and Epistemology – the study of knowledge. What set him apart from the ancient philosophers was his avoidance of the scholastic traditions to write only in Latin (the language that only highly educated people were trained in) and instead wrote in French…

René Descartes’s argument in the Second Meditation of Meditations on First Philosophy, normally referred to as the Cogito, after its Latin formulation cogito ergo sum (‘I think, therefore I am’), is arguably the most famous one in all of philosophy and can be considered as origin of modern philosophy. His premise ‘I am, I exist’ (p.21) , which he ambitiously sets out to prove in this Meditation, does not explicitly take this form though. His meditation is thinking about thinking and affirming…

INTRODUCTION: The following are argument analysis of arguments that mainly comprises the “Three dialogues between Hylas and Philonous” and “Treatise concerning the principle of Human Knowledge” both written by George Berkley , who is an Irish philosopher and coined the philosophical concept called “immaterialism” which denies that materials exist in the world and are the fundamental building blocks of reality , indeed it says that it is the ideas which really exist in the minds of the…

Rene Descartes lived in an era of geniuses. He was born in La Haye, a small town in Touraine, France. He was the first modern philosopher. He made major contributions to anatomy and physiology, optics, mathematics, and philosophy. In his Meditations on First Philosophy, Descartes’ first meditation is Meditation One, concerning about the things that can be called into doubt. Descartes wants to show that beliefs based on sensory data are not certain, thereby establishing the superiority of the…

John Locke was a 17th century empirical philosopher. Locke begins his essay in Book 1 by arguing against the concept of innate ideas. Empiricists such as Locke claim that nothing can come a priori or prior to experience. Locke believed the mind at birth was a blank slate (tabula rasa), which experience can then make its mark. In chapter one, of Book one, Locke tackles the most favorable argument for innate ideas, the evidence of “universal consent”. This argument states that all cultures have…

be. I would stay in bed and ask a bunch of questions and doubt everything. Both of these philosophy are great, one philosopher by the name of Immanuel Kant believed that either empiricist or rationalist could exist without the other. David Hume and Rene Descartes were both great philosophers but…