All Questions
14
questions
3
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1
answer
85
views
René Descartes' and Wittgenstein Doubt: Self and the Existence of Others?
Can one doubt their own existence in the world while simultaneously doubting the existence of others? If one's being isn't present because they aren't present themselves, wouldn't that make it ...
2
votes
1
answer
123
views
How would Heidegger criticize Descartes' melting candle analogy?
I've recently finished reading Being and Time and have attempted to supplement my understanding with different takes on the piece. One interesting angle that I've mused upon myself but haven't seen in ...
- 247
3
votes
0
answers
86
views
What happened to ( aristotelian) substantial forms in cartesian ontology? On which ground ( metaphysical or physical) are they rejected?
In aristotelian philosophy, there are no bare particulars ( contrary to what is the case in Plato, according to P.V. Spade) but internally structured ( substantial) particulars in which 2 "parts"/...
user37859
2
votes
1
answer
79
views
In What Sense is Substance Epistemically Prior?
In Metaphysics Z (1028a32), Aristotle outlines different senses in which a substance can be considered to be "first":
there are several senses in which a thing is said to be first; yet substance is ...
- 282
1
vote
1
answer
323
views
Does Existence Belong to the Nature of Substance?
In Proposition 7, Part I of the Ethics Spinoza claims:
Existence belongs to the nature of substance.
This means that substance exists necessarily or, to put it even simpler, that each substance ...
- 282
4
votes
6
answers
2k
views
Sum ergo cogito?
Following Descartes but in the opposite direction:
I exist. Something has made the assertion in the previous sentence and must have thought it to do so. Therefore my thoughts exist.
Combining with ...
- 143
3
votes
3
answers
198
views
Ontologically closed statements
"I think therefore I am" is a much disputed "proof". As an argument, it presupposes many posits.
Being more cautious, one might make the claim, "I only know what I feel." Is this an ontologically ...
- 687
3
votes
4
answers
181
views
Metaphysically, what comes before the cognitive ability to make distinctions?
Descartes, for example, makes the distinction between body and mind by recognizing the body as an idea born from 'extension' and the mind as an idea born from 'consciousness'. He further recognizes '...
- 335
1
vote
1
answer
190
views
What does it mean to say that Kant has a twofold ontology?
What does it mean to say that Kant has a twofold ontology? If indeed he does have a twofold ontology. Is that like Descartes' res extensa and res cogitans?
- 191
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votes
3
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What is res in res cogitans or res extensa?
Substance is that which has no dependent relation on any other; and unlike an atom, is infinitely differentiable - it has parts; and those parts thus distinguished have relations amongst themselves; ...
- 47.9k
0
votes
3
answers
212
views
Can a disembodied soul form empirical beliefs?
Is it metaphysically possible for a disembodied Cartesian soul to so much as form any purportedly empirical beliefs, even if only ones that are false?
- 251
1
vote
2
answers
184
views
Does Cartesian Doubt Depend on Cartesian Dualism?
Even though this isn't exactly accurate, the way I like to think of Descartes' hyperbolic doubt as stating that there's no way to prove that information gained through sensory experience is accurate. ...
- 1,953
14
votes
2
answers
1k
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Does the Simulation Argument differ in essence from the Evil Genius puzzle?
I recently read an article that suggested we might be able to determine if we are part of a computer simulation run by our descendants. The idea seemed far-fetched, but after looking around, I see ...
- 7,325
5
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Is Descarte putting the cart before the horse when he says 'cogito ergo sum'?
Famously Descartes said 'Cogito ergo sum'. I'm a bit puzzled by this. I do not need to think in order to assert/understand/intuit that I exist: when I wake up in the morning I immediately intuit that ...
- 47.9k