Philosophy and Literature 253 Midterm Exam October 7 2012 “Oh‚ Jupiter‚ a robot Descartes!” Asimov’s short story “Reasons” in I‚ Robot is the fictional account of a robots creation of his own path of reasoning. Much like Descartes‚ the Robot‚ Cutie‚ is curious about the truth of his existence and plans to find the answers out for himself. Cutie is a self-aware‚ reasoning robot on a station in space in the year 2015‚ and all he knows are the things in his immediate surrounding‚ which isn’t much
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The philosophers Zara Yacob‚ a seventeenth-century Ethiopian philosopher‚ and René Descartes‚ a seventeenth-century French philosopher‚ mathematician‚ and scientist‚ were two very important religious intellectuals of their time. Yacob and Descartes were similar in many ways despite never meeting but also differed considerably in that they both believed in God but arrived at that conclusion in very different ways. They also had profoundly different ways of thinking. The two extraordinary philosophers
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Descartes‚ Hume and Skepticism Descartes is responsible for the skepticism that has been labeled Cartesian doubt. Hume critiques this skepticism in his Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding. After his discussion of Cartesian doubt‚ he offers a different type of skepticism that he considers as being more effective philosophically. Is Hume right in his characterization of Cartesian doubt and is the skepticism he offers better? Descartes introduced the idea of universal doubt to philosophy. If
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Abstract and Referential Ontology: Descartes Versus Spinoza on the Existence of God. The concept of God is central to the development of Cartesian and Spinozan philosophy. Although both philosophers employ an ontological argument for the existence and necessity of God the specific nature of God differs greatly with each account. While Descartes suggests a Judeo-Christian concept of God‚ Spinoza argues a more monistic deity similar to that of the Hindu tradition. The most significant difference
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In the Sixth Meditation‚ Descartes makes a point that there is a distinction between mind and body. It is in Meditation Two when Descartes believes he has shown the mind to be better known than the body. In Meditation Six‚ however‚ he goes on to claim that‚ as he knows his mind and knows clearly and distinctly that its essence consists purely of thought. Also‚ that bodies’ essences consist purely of extension‚ and that he can conceive of his mind and body as existing separately. By the power of
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Sarah Gabr 900-08-9073 Final Essay In the First Meditation‚ Descartes presents his philosophical project‚ and he claims that‚ in order to complete this project‚ he needs to put into questions the truth of all his beliefs. Descartes shows that we can doubt of the truth of all our beliefs by two main arguments‚ the Dream Argument and the Evil Genius argument. In the Dream Argument‚ Descartes discusses the senses and how it can deceive. Descartes then mentions that when he is dreaming he can also sense
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Descartes method of doubt is his personal quest for certainty in knowledge‚ a system that allows us to find a way to be assured that what we feel we “know” is not just a figment of his imagination but an infallible truth. The motivation for his method of doubts begins as a question of the possibility that all his thoughts could be false on the basis that he has had many false beliefs before and could possibly have formed more false beliefs with a fabricated base‚ and that in order to have stable
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what you make of it‚ and having the right outlook on things will guarantee an interesting and successful life. "The mind is a terrible thing to waste." Everyone knows this famous quotation‚ but still a countless number of people waste their potential on the path of "closed mindedness." A "closed minded" person believes everything is either in black or white‚ with no gray area in between. They do not allow themselves to see the possibilities of alternatives to what they presently hold as facts. To argue
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and apprehensions are inside each one of us (Chance‚ 2001‚ p. 58). On the other hand‚ this development is redeemed by Frodo who becomes tired and forlorn and is brimming with compassion‚ which strongly appears differently in relation to his cheerful and intrepid life seen at the beginning. Sam is the person who adores his master and is willing to go after him wherever he chooses to go. He generally tries to be there and help Frodo. In any case‚ it is vital to specify that the hobbit is not a conventional
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meditation of the French philosopher Rene Descartes. In this movie‚ what most people perceive as reality is no more real than a dream. This dream is created by a powerful being bent on deceiving humanity‚ but there are some members of humanity who choose to let themselves be deceived. Neo experiences the same doubt about reality as Descartes when he talks about not being sure if he is awake or still dreaming. Descartes points out that there are no certain markings between the dream world and the waking one
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