Descartes was a foundationalist. His goal was to find certain indubitable ideas to use as a foundation to build his thoughts. His aim was to find a single or multiple certainties to build his thoughts off of. Descartes figures that if he can come up with a hyperbolic doubt and some idea can still survive through this ultimate doubt then this is the most certain scenario. This hyperbolic doubt becomes to believe is‚ “ not that there is a supremely good God who is the source of all truth‚ but that
Premium God Good and evil Problem of evil
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
Premium Existence Truth Metaphysics
After Descartes goes over what he has previously covered‚ including his proving that God exists and that God is perfect‚ he begins his fourth meditation. In this meditation‚ titled Truth and falsity‚ Descartes contemplates how he‚ Descartes makes mistakes if he is a product of this perfect being. First‚ he knows that God would not deceive him‚ since the will to deceive is a sign of weakness or hatred‚ and God’s perfection would not allow it. Second‚ if God created him‚ God is responsible for his
Premium Mind Metaphysics Theology
As Descartes and Locke worked consistently through out their lives to discover truth‚ many differences as well as similarities arose between the two. In regards to similarities‚ Locke considered all qualities of external objects to fall into one of two categories‚ primary or secondary. As previously mentioned‚ primary qualities are fixed in the object to make it what it is‚ and secondary qualities are all in the eye of the beholder. This idea from Locke agrees precisely with the distinctions made
Premium Metaphysics Mind Epistemology
In Descartes Meditation I‚ he casts doubt as to whether or not we are dreaming. He first uses modus tollens to cast doubt to our senses. He then he uses redictio ad absurdum to show that even if we are dreaming‚ there are some things that are still real. Descartes begins with establishing the key idea of laying a strong foundation for his ideas. He acknowledges that he has preconceived ideas about the world in which he can doubt their truth. He sees this collection of ideas as a pyramid‚ where
Premium Epistemology Metaphysics Mind
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
Premium Religion Philosophy God
Abstract The history of the abortion debate has continued for decades. In today’s society the topic is very demanding and controversial. Prolifer’s as the name proceeds‚ frame the debate as the right to life for the baby. Individuals who are for Pro-choice may or may not address whether the fetus is in fact a life‚ and frame the debate in terms of woman having the right to choose what’s best for their bodies without worrying about the government getting involved. In the following paper I
Premium Abortion Roe v. Wade
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
Premium Skepticism Mind Epistemology
Mind and Brain - Is There a Difference? Lisa Fitzsimons PHI 200 Instructor Brianne Larsen 02/20/2012 The brain is the most complex organ of the human body; scientists still have many unanswered questions about it. One question is are the mind and the brain the same entity or are they separate entities within a person’s head? It is undisputed that the actions of the mind are within the brain. But are the actions of the mind only neurological impulses sent between neurons within the brain
Premium Brain Neuron Cerebrum
Rene Descartes’ third meditation from his book Meditations on First Philosophy‚ examines Descartes’ arguments for the existence of God. The purpose of this essay will be to explore Descartes’ reasoning and proofs of God’s existence. In the third meditation‚ Descartes states two arguments attempting to prove God’s existence‚ the Trademark argument and the traditional Cosmological argument. Although his arguments are strong and relatively truthful‚ they do no prove the existence of God. At the
Premium Existence Theology Mind