Explain Descartes version of the ontological argument? Ontology is the branch of philosophy that explores the whole concept of existence. Thomas Aquinas argued that a reason as to why the ontological argument does not work is that we do not know what God is‚ Descartes disagreed with this. Descartes‚ who was a very influential mathematician‚ philosopher and scientist‚ believed‚ similarly to Anselm and Plato previously‚ that human beings mind’s are imprinted with concepts such as equality‚ cause‚
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Rene Descartes has revolutionized the way of philosophy to focus about the nature of being. The two methods in his first work “Discourse on Method” changed philosopher’s focus on the questions of knowing and put aside the questions of being. Method of inquiry advises that you approach questions in an orderly fashion. Also the Method of doubt tells us not to acknowledge anything unless you identify it to be true. Both methods will aid on moving from one truth to another and gain a better understanding
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1. Does Descartes actually believe in God or is he forced to place the belief of God into his text due to fear of being accused a heretic. I am skeptical as to whether Descartes’ believes in God and in his own reasons for saying God exists. I have first taken into consideration the fact that during this time and place it was highly frowned upon to disagree with the church and one can be put to death for this. When reading Descartes biography it stated that he pulled his material off from publication
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By comparison‚ The Matrix and Descartes’ Mediation I storylines are very similar since the movie is based on Descartes’ "Evil Demon Hypothesis." Even though Neo feels that the world would be a better place if the blinders are removed‚ controls released‚ and people become aware of what has been happening behind the scenes‚ many of them are not ready to embrace the truth. Additionally‚ the Mediator is content with life as he knows it even if he is ignorant of true knowledge. On the other hand‚ in
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What is mind-body dualism? Mind-body dualism simply distinguishes the mind and the body as two completely type of “substances.” According to Descartes the essential property of a material substance is extension; being able to take up space and time. One cannot observe what happens within the mind but can witness what happens to the body. Everyone is familiar with the function of the mind‚ which is the process of thinking and being able to tap into the body conscious. On the other hand‚ the body is
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transition‚ transcending the Cartesian Dilemma‚ aka‚ Descartes’ Mind/Body dualism. Although we are each a single individual‚ our minds and our bodies seem to exist in two separate worlds which operate on separate rules. The dilemma is unifying the two‚ made possible by transcending the duality entirely. This allows the emergence of de-limited spirit which then provides the world with a third path‚ the Path of Neo‚ the path of peace. Descartes‚ like the crew on the Nebuchadnezzar‚ has faith that
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Does Descartes’ “evil demon” thought experiment show that we cannot know anything about the external world? Descartes’ ‘evil demon’ thought experiment was originally imagined by Rene Descartes in Meditations I. The thought experiment still remains relevant in the modern day‚ with the popularity of the ‘brain in a vat’ thought experiment and its numerous parallels in films such as the Matrix and Total Recall. Descartes tries to deconstruct his preconceived beliefs about the world‚ to truly understand
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During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries writers such as Descartes and Voltaire were heavily influenced by religion‚ as evidence of their writings. The Declaration of the Rights of Man is a perfect example of how religion impacted society during the period of Enlightenment. As Descartes uses knowledge as an Archimedean point‚ he uses the existence of God as part of this knowledge. He studied the relation between science and religion very carefully. He set out to find out how we know that
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significantly‚ with the mind not being equivalent to the brain. Descartes is‚ perhaps‚ the philosopher that most people reference when discussing the mind-body problem. For Descartes‚ there are two substances: Mind and Matter. Each substance has a defining attribute. In the case of Mind‚ the defining attribute is Thought. In the case of Matter‚ the defining attribute is spatial Extension. It is important to note that for Descartes‚ substances can have nothing in common‚ otherwise they would not
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Thesis Summary René Descartes begins his first meditation by calling all our current beliefs to suspicion. His purpose of this practice was to stripe away all the falsehoods that we have acquired since childhood by the use of our senses. He also wanted to build anew a stable foundation of beliefs that he can be certain are of undeniably truths. In Descartes work he mentions that our senses are not to be trusted‚ for they have deceived us once and surely will deceive us again. As he clearly stated
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