Doubt, Dualism, and Decartes
Doubt, Dualism, and Descartes
Rene Descartes’ “Meditations on First Philosophy” was written during a time of new ideas and those radical ideas’ subsequent scrutiny and rejection by the Vatican, Descartes’ idea on philosophy forever changed western philosophy by challenging the accepted ideas of Classical Greek Philosophers and Greek revivalists. With the revival of Greek and Roman art and architecture came also a renewed interest in science, knowledge, and philosophy. In this new revivalism in philosophy Rene Descartes and his ideas on metaphysics and logic have forever reshaped the world we live in. Descartes approaches philosophy in an entirely different fashion, believing that the best way to understand the truth is to strip down everything he thought he knew to the core basics, not of what he knew but rather what he knew he couldn’t contest.
At the time Descartes wrote Meditations on First Philosophy, Western philosophical ideas on knowledge and perception still mainly followed the Classical Greek schools of thought that had not changed much since the time of Socrates. According to classic Aristotelian ideas on philosophy we must start with what we see, feel, or perceive with our senses, claiming that the basis of knowledge and learning is our interpretation of the world we perceive. Knowledge was based upon the belief that any truth must have some relative connection with some form of reality. Even in the years before Descartes, though often viewed as blank pages in the philosophical timeline, the theorems and postulates proposed were merely revisions or interpretations of the ideas presented by the ancient Greeks.
Scholasticism was the key idea on learning and knowledge during Descartes life was the main group that Descartes wished to persuade to his style of thinking, hoping it would be accepted as a new standard philosophic approach for the church. (Wordpress) Scholasticism is an interpretation of Aristotle’s teachings blended with Christian
Rene Descartes’ “Meditations on First Philosophy” was written during a time of new ideas and those radical ideas’ subsequent scrutiny and rejection by the Vatican, Descartes’ idea on philosophy forever changed western philosophy by challenging the accepted ideas of Classical Greek Philosophers and Greek revivalists. With the revival of Greek and Roman art and architecture came also a renewed interest in science, knowledge, and philosophy. In this new revivalism in philosophy Rene Descartes and his ideas on metaphysics and logic have forever reshaped the world we live in. Descartes approaches philosophy in an entirely different fashion, believing that the best way to understand the truth is to strip down everything he thought he knew to the core basics, not of what he knew but rather what he knew he couldn’t contest.
At the time Descartes wrote Meditations on First Philosophy, Western philosophical ideas on knowledge and perception still mainly followed the Classical Greek schools of thought that had not changed much since the time of Socrates. According to classic Aristotelian ideas on philosophy we must start with what we see, feel, or perceive with our senses, claiming that the basis of knowledge and learning is our interpretation of the world we perceive. Knowledge was based upon the belief that any truth must have some relative connection with some form of reality. Even in the years before Descartes, though often viewed as blank pages in the philosophical timeline, the theorems and postulates proposed were merely revisions or interpretations of the ideas presented by the ancient Greeks.
Scholasticism was the key idea on learning and knowledge during Descartes life was the main group that Descartes wished to persuade to his style of thinking, hoping it would be accepted as a new standard philosophic approach for the church. (Wordpress) Scholasticism is an interpretation of Aristotle’s teachings blended with Christian
Cited: Descartes, Rene. Meditations on First Philosophy. Simon & Brown, 2011. Print. "SparkNotes: Meditations on First Philosophy." SparkNotes: Today 's Most Popular Study Guides. Web. 01 Nov. 2011. <http://www.sparknotes.com/philosophy/meditations/>. "Aristotle: Reality and Knowledge." Philosophy Pages. Web. 01 Nov. 2011. <http://www.philosophypages.com/hy/2p.htm>. "Descartes versus Aristotle — Battle Royale! « Here She Be — The Battlements." Here She Be — The Battlements. Web. 01 Nov. 2011. <http://hereshebe.wordpress.com/2009/02/23/descartes-versus-aristotle-battle-royale/>. "The Correspondence Theory of Truth (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)." Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Web. 02 Nov. 2011. <http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/truth-correspondence/>. "Mind/Body Problem." Sprynet. Web. 02 Nov. 2011. <http://home.sprynet.com/~owl1/mind.htm>. "What Is Scholasticism?" Bartholomew 's World. Web. 02 Nov. 2011. <http://bartholomew.stanford.edu/scholasticism.html>.