Descartes and the problem of skepticism | Question: In Meditation III‚ Descartes argues that his idea of God could not have come from him‚ and so God must exist. How does this argument go? | Overview René Descartes was a great scientist‚ mathematician and philosopher. He was known for his extensive work on skepticism‚ and in particular a piece called “Meditations on First Philosophy” (written in 1641) which is still widely used by modern philosophers. In this publication‚ Descartes’ aim
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Descartes is totally right to be suspicious about ’the given’ before accepting it as the establishment of learning‚ however‚ in the meantime‚ it is not the bravest thought to be distrustful about everything. Throughout first Meditation‚ Descartes disposes of all his past obtained opinion‚ which from his sense is highly dubious. (Descartes‚ Meditations I‚ pg.1‚para. 1) Accordingly‚ he chooses to rebuild his insight from a specific ground and totally believe in things that are indubitable. (Descartes
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Meditation alone is not attached to a religion or any particular practice. It is an exercise to change the way the mind is working consciously. Meditation is used as a way of self-development to gain control over one’s acts. It also has therapeutic applications. Buddhist practice uses meditation as the way to connect to our inner self to look for enlightenment and reach the Nirvana. For Buddhism‚ the Nirvana is the state of liberation where you reach the perfect freedom‚ happiness‚ quietude and
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Descartes was the first mathematician to use the notation where the letters at the beginning of the alphabet represent data and the letters at the end of the alphabet to represent variables or unknowns. Descartes’ understanding of algebra was deep. He stated that the number of distinct roots of an equation is equal to the degree of the equation. Descartes was willing to consider negative (he called them false roots) and imaginary roots. He developed a rule for determining the number of positive
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between the movie The Matrix‚ the cave analogy of Plato‚ and Descartes’ Meditation‚ is that all of these works doubt the reality of the world around us and call into question the validity of our sense perceptions. “Let us suppose‚” says Descartes‚ “that we are dreaming‚ and that all these particulars – namely‚ the opening of the eyes‚ the motion of the head‚ the forth-putting of the hands – are merely illusions” (Descartes‚ 1641‚ Meditations on First Philosophy). Likewise Plato proposed an interesting
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Meditation in Buddhism Buddhists pursue meditation as a means to attain their goal of escaping suffering and the cycles of rebirth: the achievement of nirvana (Pali: nibbãna). The practice of meditation has been directly derived from Buddha’s own experiences and teachings as it is generally accepted that the Buddha himself reached enlightenment through meditation. Meditation can be contextualized as part of the Noble Eightfold Path‚ the fourth of the Buddha’s Four Nobel Truths‚ specifically in
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Descartes and Plato Explain both of descartes Arguments for the existence of God Descartes proof of God’s existence comes from his third meditation and is based on three ideas. He argues that innate idea exists within us‚ the fictitious or invented ideas are a result of our own imagination and adventitious ideas result from our experiences in the world. Descartes said‚ the idea of God is innate and cannot be invented. Descartes presents some arguments that lead to his conclusion. The first
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Plato/Descartes Reading Response In both Plato’s Allegory of the Cave and Descartes’ The Fourth Meditation‚ they discuss truth; what it is‚ where it comes from and how to differentiate it from falsehood and error. Plato’s paper is more metaphorical and uses imagery to paint a picture of his idea of truth‚ while Descartes’ is more straight forward‚ and uses examples. These papers are written very differently but are‚ at the same time‚ very similar when it comes to content. Although it’s not word
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Q3: What are the main differences between rationalism and empiricism as approaches to knowledge? Explain the advantages and disadvantages of each‚ using Descartes (Second Meditation) as the example of a rationalist‚ and Hume or Locke as the example of an empiricist. In your view which approach better explains the common-sense knowledge of the world that we take for granted? Common-sense knowledge is information we know and understand unproblematically. It could be that a spider has six legs‚ your
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Epistemology ------------------------------------------------- Carefully explain Descartes’ cogito and his attempt to build his knowledge structure from the ground up. (Be as succinct as possible.) Does Descartes succeed or fail in that attempt? Justify your answer in full. Descartes’ Epistemology This essay attempts to explain Descartes’ epistemology of his knowledge‚ his “Cogito‚ Ergo Sum” concept (found in the Meditations)‚ and why he used it [the cogito concept] as a foundation when building his
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