Questions tagged [descartes]
Questions related to René Descartes (31 March 1596 – 11 February 1650)
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Descartes Statement in Second Meditation is illogical?
In the second paragraph of Meditation Two: Concerning the Nature of the Human Mind: That it is better known than the Body, Descartes writes
“Therefore I suppose that everything I see is false. I ...
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Blaise Pascal and a possible unfinished Philosophical System?
We know that Blaise Pascal died young and was unable to develop many of his theses that are embryonically present in his Pensées, his treatise on Grace, or his reflections on the spirit of geometry. ...
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Did Descartes declare the "Non Cogito" first, prior to "cogito ergo sum"
I took A-Level Philosophy, during which we studied Descartes "Meditations" at length.
I remember our teacher explaining that, whilst "Cogito ergo sum" was the famous phrasing, ...
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Does Descartes conclude that imperfection implies perfection?
In the third meditation, does Descartes' knowledge of his limitations, or his imperfections, lead to his conclusion that there must be something limitless, something perfect?
In his third meditation, ...
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"i think therefore i am", revist, does criticisms really hold?
In Wikipedia the critiques don't make much sense to me
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cogito,_ergo_sum#Critique
For example, it is said that "Saul Fisher 'points out that recognition that one has ...
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Can’t we assume that the Boltzmann Brain scenario can be cognitively stable?
In the Boltzmann Brain scenario, we are all brains produced by random fluctuations within a high entropy universe. The argument which I had accepted before was that our very reasoning can not be ...
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Does Descartes exclude madness from his meditations?
For Descartes, is madness fundamentally different to dreaming?
Reading these blog posts (I am unfamiliar with the discussion really), which has a few points against Foucault's analysis that it is ...
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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 ...
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Can somebody help me choose relevant literature
I want to excuse myself beforehand if this is an inappropriate question on this forum.
I'm just starting studying and I need literature for my little paperwork in a philosophy seminar. The main line ...
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Is it audacious and false to encapsulate Descartes Philosophy in this one simple sentence? [closed]
Namely: "I, therefore God, therefore body and mind". I want to see if I understand the bigger picture of his Philosophy.
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Why does Descartes derives existence from "Thinking" and not from "Consciously experiencing"?
I am reading Descartes Meditations and in the second meditation there is the following quote that is obviously central:
"But I have convinced myself that there is absolutely nothing in the world,...
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Did Peirce hold that, when stripped to its absolute core, Descartes’ cogito could be summarized as: ‘There is an Idea’?
In ‘The Simplest Mathematics’ (C.P. 4.71, 1893), C.S. Peirce elaborated:
It is a fundamental mistake to suppose that an idea which stands
isolated can be otherwise than perfectly blind. He professes ...
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Descartes’ Clear and Distinct Principle
Can someone explain Descartes’ clear and distinct principle in depth? I am reading his Meditations, and find the explanation presented there to be short and inadequate for such a bold claim. I would ...
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Does 'cogito ergo sum' actually establish the existence of an objective truth/reality?
Before I start describing my questions, I would like to draw some background on my understanding and knowledge of Descartes' ontological(metaphysical) views regarding the cogito and philosophy in ...
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What logical arguments have been made to say an effect cannot be greater than its cause?
I'm currently writing a paper on Descartes argument for God based on his third meditation. One premise of the argument that seems fairly important is the claim that "no effect can be greater than ...
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