"Compare and contrast Plato’s allegory of the cave (in terms of the concern with the difference between appearances and reality) with Descartes’ systematic doubt of external reality in the Meditations." Stephen McCormack 07567758 Descartes and Plato are two of the most influential thinkers within philosophy. The allegory of the cave and systematic doubt are also two of the most famous concepts within philosophy. Plato at the time of writing the cave
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Cartesian Dualism (Descartes Dualism) Notes In a nutshell‚ Descartes believed that the mind and body are completely different‚ however they still work together- “I think‚ therefore I am” Descartes believed that a man consisted of MATTER- (The physical stuff that walks‚ talks‚ and plays the accordion) and MIND – (The nonphysical substance (sometimes equated with the soul) that thinks‚ doubts‚ and remembers) Descartes had some key ideas on what the mind and body involves‚ these included: The
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product of our brain? Some argue that the mind is just like the brain and therefore it is a physical object. Some argue otherwise. Rene Descartes offered a solution for the Mind-Body problem‚ which he termed as Cartesian Dualism. According to Dualism‚ “brains and the bodies in which they are found are physical things; the mind‚ which is a non-physical
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controversial ideas from two philosophers‚ Rene Descartes and Christopher Grau‚ about reality and how one knows what is real and what is not. This is most obviously illustrated in the conclusion of the movie with Schwarzenegger’s line‚ “I just had a terrible thought. What if this is all a dream?” (Total Recall) Rene Descartes is a very interesting philosopher due to the extremes he utilized in order to figure out what is real and what is not. The tactic that Descartes used is called Skepticism. Skepticism
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Rene Descartes in his Discourse of the Method begins with the problem of showing and proving his own existence‚ but later in the reading changes the problem and it is concentrating on proving the existence of God. The first time that I thought to myself that this reading is probably about something else than proving his own existence was where the author started talking about perfection. The author defined God as “something that truly was more perfect than I was‚ something indeed having perfections
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Immanuel Kant’s philosophical views of human nature and the ethical systems that govern human actions are primarily summed up in his composition of the "Categorical Imperative.” By his own logic‚ Kant attempted to describe the mechanics of nature and the morality of mankind. As Mitchell states: Indeed‚ as Kant showed us‚ the world appears to operate according to the principle of cause and effect‚ and our shared agreement of this interpretation allows us to reason about the world. (Mitchell‚ 259)
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Dualism and Rationalism The French philosopher‚ Rene Descartes (1596-1650)‚ approached knowledge from quite a different stance than did John Locke. For Descartes‚ man has ultimate knowledge of his own existence because he is a thinking being – cogito ergo sum – "I think‚ therefore I am." Thus the foundations of knowledge consist of a set of first‚ "self-evident" principles‚ a priori principles. The mind is not an empty cabinet but is filled with universal‚ though not readily known‚ principles
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One of philosophy’s greatest questions‚ “Who am I?” has been asked since western philosophers began practicing. While evaluating the self‚ other questions arose. When did I begin? What will happen to me when I die? John Locke‚ David Hume‚ and René Descartes have had some of the most discussed‚ debated‚ and widely accepted positions on self-identity. (Olson) John Locke‚ also known as the “Father of Classical Liberalism‚” was an English philosopher. He is viewed as one of the most influential figures
Free Mind Consciousness René Descartes
the body. There are two main reasons I can say this according to Rene Descartes: meditation 1 all I know is that I don’t have knowledge and meditation 2 I know that I exist because I think. In my first argument I will explain according to Rene Descartes that all I know is that I don’t have knowledge. Rene Descartes starts to write some meditations‚ I am going to defend my first argument with meditation 1. In mediation 1 Descartes starts by whether or not our beliefs must be doubted‚ the first part
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Descartes famously a rationalist believed that true knowledge about the world comes from reason and without experience. Descartes initiated his claim about the self by doubting. He doubted everything‚ including his own existence‚ and that doubt itself is the only certainty. Accordingly‚ he assumed that his thoughts were the only thing not to be doubted. The answer to his existence was his cogito argument‚ “I think‚ therefore I am”; ‘cogito ergo sum’. This means that the existence of a thinking substance
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