Flanders September 15‚ 2014 The Divisibility of the Mind In his sixth Meditation‚ Descartes makes an argument that the mind and body are not a single entity. Instead‚ he believes that there is a clear distinction between those two concepts‚ partly due to the unequal ability to divide each into more basic components. This leads Descartes to the conclusion that mind and body exist separately as two parts in a duality. Descartes describes how the mind is simply a thing that can think. There are no separate
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Descartes argument for the existence of God is based on two main principles. This is the principle of sufficient reasoning and the principle of adequate reality. The principle of sufficient reasoning means that everything has a cause. The principle of adequate reality is followed by sufficient reasoning and means that there must be at least as much reality in the cause as the effect. An example of having at least as much reality in the cause as the effect could be studying for a test and receiving
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Both Descartes and Berkeley had a thesis of mediate perception. These theses however‚ were not the same. The difference‚ you see‚ is in how they perceive physical objects. Descartes develops a somewhat realist view in his meditations while Berkeley argues that his non-realist perception can sufficiently account for anything a realist would be able to with their system of philosophy. Essentially‚ Berkeley states that what Descartes believes as corporeal is simply a false understanding of the ideas
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Descartes: Proof of God’s existence and human error Unlike considerations emanating from theologians as to how proof that their God‚ defined as an active being by itself‚ was not an invention‚ the demonstration Descartes does regarding the proof of the existence of God and therefore the human error is simple: it shows God from man. Descartes says‚ "I would not have the idea of an infinite substance‚ me as a finite being‚ if it had been placed in me by some substance that was truly infinite."
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DESCARTES VS. LOCKE: KNOWLEDGE AS VIEWED FROM A FRENCH AND AN ENGLISH PERSPECTIVE Randy Hoang Philosophy 205: Introduction to Philosophy April 17‚ 2016 Descartes vs. Locke: Knowledge as Viewed from a French and an English Perspective Last year‚ I completed Basic Training for the United States Army Reserve. I was compelled to join the Army since my father is a veteran and I had a strong desire to also serve my country. During the training‚ I learned about knowledge and knowledge’s
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The most reasonable of these objections is the notion that Putnam’s argument could be equally well proposed by a person who is actually a handless brain in a vat. This is clearly problematic‚ as it would mean that Putnam’s argument does not succeed in confirming that we are not handless
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In addition‚ these changes can be further distinguished in Descartes belief that he can develop assertions of existence from his conception of ‘I think.’ For Descartes‚ res cogitans is established to be a finite substance. However‚ he concludes that an infinite substance‚ God‚ could not have originated in himself and therefore must be the cause of this idea‚ which results in God necessarily existing - ‘the idea that enables me to understand a supreme deity‚ eternal‚ infinite‚ omniscient‚ omnipotent
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In the third meditation‚ Descartes tells why he believes his idea of God must be innate. He believes this idea must be innate because it didn’t come through his senses and it isn’t a fiction of his mind. Although we cannot comprehend God‚ we can reach God through thought because we do have an idea of him. To begin‚ one reason Descartes believes his idea of God must be innate is because the idea did not come through his senses. Descartes says his idea of God is never presented to him unexpectedly
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Descartes’ reasons for believing in substance dualism relies on several arguments including his argument for certainty or knowledge. The argument relies on the idea that I can be certain of my mind but not my body or any other physical thing‚ so my mind is not a physical thing. In this paper‚ I will argue that Descartes’ assessment of the mind-body connection makes a jump in its logic by declaring that the mind cannot be physical‚ even though his certainty argument does not take into account that
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November 2016 PHIL 201.002 Essay Philosophy of Rene Descartes Rene Descartes was a philosopher of French descendent. He served in the Dutch Army for a good deal of his life until one day he had a dream about advancing physics and mathematics. Not to long after his dream Descartes wrote one of his more famous works Meditations on First Philosophy. The Meditations show his ideals on how we know who we are and what our purpose is for this life. Descartes states many ideals in his book Meditations of First
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