Tess Gaerthé

René Descartes’ dream argument supports his overarching argument for hyperbolic doubt, described in his Meditations on First Philosophy. The dream argument questions one’s perceptions, conscious and unconscious, and how one determines what is true and what is false. He does this by comparing experiences while awake or dreaming. Descartes continues on that since one also cannot tell the difference between what is a dream and what is real life, our perceptions could overall be false, and “assumes…

Are mind and body essentially different? [Descartes, Conway, Cavendish] In 17th century philosophy, the mind-body issue surfaced many circulating viewpoints as to what the real relationship between the mind and the physical world is. This continuing dilemma brings up questions that have ongoing answers regarding if the mind and body are two substances or not, and how exactly the mind and body are related to each other. I am choosing to take a monist standpoint in this paper, expressing that…

The search for the truth of the world has been a highly debatable topic for many philosophers. The concept of ‘substance’ have differed throughout the years, as many philosophers have established contrasting perspectives on it. G.W Leibniz and John Locke were two prominent philosophers whose discussions offered a very unique lens to the the question of what is substance. This essay will focus on philosophers, Leibniz and Locke, and their contrasting perspectives on the concept of substance.…

It seems that every day there is a new report about the latest act of terror or brutality occurring somewhere in the world. These events, though they are horrific to hear about, can be hard to grasp as they can seem very foreign or carry no personal connection. However, they are more globally connected than it seems. That connection is religion. Religion has become, just like talking politics at Thanksgiving, taboo. People are afraid to talk about it in fear of offending someone. The topic of…

It is argued by Descartes’s that the mind body interaction does interact on a daily basis, on the other hand Leibniz disagrees, and they are causally interacting with each other. You will learn how the mind body is linked and how the body reacts to physically movement from the reasoning/thinking of the mind. It is a dualism, it have metaphysical between both substances. Mind is mental, Body is physical. The mind is not a physical thing it works in the mental state while the Body is the physical…

Descarte begins by making two very clear distinctions between the body and the mind. The mind is a nonmaterial essence that can exist without the body and will last forever. In contrast the essence of material things like the body are extend things that are void of the capacity to think. He defines the body as a mode of himself. He upholds that all he knows for sure is that he is a thinking thing and that thinking is the only thing that makes him exist. So nothing else can be identified with him…

Descartes was a great proponent of interactionist dualism. “In the philosophy of mind, dualism is the theory that the mental and the physical[,] or mind and body[,] are […] radically different” in nature. In addition, “interactionism is the view that mind and body […] causally influence each other.” In this essay, I will argue that Descartes’ view on interactionist dualism is incorrect. I will do so by: 1) presenting Descartes’ argument for dualism; 2) objecting to his arguments; 3) considering…

Discrimination in the Way of Hiring Recently, the television show “The View” spoke about the discrimination given when hiring potential employees, and how difficult it is to receive a job due to an individual 's unprofessional name. After playing a viral YouTube video of the “Top 60 Ghetto Black Names”, Raven Symone commented that she is discriminant against hiring anyone with a name like Watermelondrea, as said in the video. For fear that the person’s actions might reflect off their…

Neuroscience, Psychology, and Religion has centered on the connection between religion and science, specifically focusing on the “soul.” The beginning chapters explored the historical philosophies surrounding the concept of the soul while later chapters have sought to reconcile recent discoveries in neuroscience with common theory. Within these chapters the authors presented a “physicalist” understanding of the soul, contrary to Descartes’ dualist view of the brain/soul. Though neuroscience…

The avant-garde cinema was born out of a ravaged post-World War I Europe in the 1920s. Various visual artists and writers took upon themselves to deride and challenge the conventional notions of plot, character, and setting, as they saw them as limiting and bourgeois. The aim of these artists was to point out how narrative films were artificial as well as contest the notion that there was only one way of filmmaking. “We should also add that internationally, experimental art was at that time…