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Mind Map Descartes's Meditations, I cannot know that the things that…
Mind Map Descartes's Meditations
I cannot know that the things that surround me are real, therefore I have to question everything in order to gain knowledge of the world and find out whether what I believed in was wrong
Meditation I Questioning everything
Obtaining real knowledge implies abandoning all forces that may affect your rational thinking and the understanding of a certain concept
Doubt
- disregarding everything that has been previously believed or known, in order to begin again from a fresh state
Empirical Knowledge
Our senses deceive us
Optical illusions
Dreams
We dream things very close to the exact same scenario we experienced throughout our daily life.
Everything including our own body and motion could be an illusion
Composite
things VS
simple
things
things we should doubt and may study in physics, medicine and astronomy
A yellow box may be an illusion, but a “sharpness” is a definition of the idea of sharp, so it must be real. Same goes to numbers and quantity
studied by algebra and geometry
2+3 is always 5, a rectangle always has 4 sides, etc.
In order for him to achieve something, he drops his belief in all empirical knowledge and all his judgements including the world and his own body.
Problem with rationally confirmed knowledge
A higher being (for example God) could be exercising mass deception on us. We can, therefore, be deceived every time we calculate 2+3.
God is good, but
we
make mistakes from time to time, and if God was “good”
he
wouldn’t allow even such mistakes, so
mass deception is possible
The argument for the existence of an
EVIL
being, a demon
Meditation II On the existence of the mind
On doubting ones own existence and possible deception
Why should we doubt the physical over the mind when the physical is more easily perceivable?
Descartes believes that
physical perception
is just a
habit
and that the more he
thinks
about the new truth, the more he is sure to
doubt
the
physical
.
Wax
- a known stick of wax with
specific colour, shape, odor, etc
. If the wax is
melted
from nearby heat, these
properties
may
change
, but this is still the
same wax as before
RATIONALITY
Our mind has understood that this is the
same wax
, despite the
change in its physical properties
=>
Knowledge
is derived from the
MIND
,
NOT
from the
SENSES
.
Can one exist without one's body and senses? Are we so dependant on the body?
"I think, therefore I exist"
One must exist in order for another to be deceiving him
What am I?
Because he [Descartes] is sure only in his ability to think, he decides he is a
thinking thing
.
A thing that doubts, perceives, affirms, denies, wills, does not will, imagines, and feels
Concept of the mind/soul =>
DUALISM
philosophy - a distinction of
MIND
and
BODY
‘I’ is not simply a man, as Descartes can doubt his body, but not his ability to think.
The birth of rationalism
Empiricism
relies on the fact that knowledge comes from the
senses
Rationalism
relies on the fact that knowledge comes from
reason
Descartes
Only valid knowledge
we can acquire should be attained by the mind through
reasoning alone
(no observations)
We can be using our body (brain) to think so that the mind is not really distinguished from the body
=> We can just be a corporeal thing.
Meditation III On the existence of God
Clear and distinct ideas
Categorization
Innate
-
not created
, and have
no source
; they are there
from the start
; Always
true
independent of external factors. (mathematics - the concept of one) - a
priori
truth
Clear and distinct ideas are Innate ideas
Adventitious
- something
outside
the
mind
(Heat, sound)
Factious
- solely being created
in
the
mind
(Unicorn - imaginary idea)
The clear and distinct idea of God
an
infinite substance
,
eternal
,
immutable
,
independent
,
omniscient
,
omnipotent
, and by which
all
things (including the ‘
I
’)
exist
, have been created and produced
to have this idea, it must be an
innate idea
(it
must be created by God
)
Therefore,
God exists
Descartes:
true as he could not have created such an idea
a
finite
being -
not capable
of
creating
an
infinite
one
Only
the
infinite
being can
create
the
idea
of an
infinite
being
1 more item...
What if God does not exist?
If God does not exist how does the thinking thing come to think
It may be the creator of its own existence
1 more item...
Another finite source may be the creator
1 more item...
Maybe its parents created it
2 more items...
Meditation IV: The truth and the false
If one is created by an infinite being as God (and God is perfect), like everything else, why are they a subject to errors?
We are
thinking things
- our existence is in the
middle
of two
extremes
the infinite God
the complete nothingness
we are
limited finite beings
, which explain
committing errors
and
following falsehoods
Privations:
Nothingness
we experience from the
lack
of
Perfection
Why are we in the exact middle of the spectrum and not closer to God?
Being
close
to
God
requires
one to
understand
the infinite God’s
process
of
creation
finite beings cannot do
one's
errors may be
useful
to the
total
perfection
in the long run
A car, for example, is composed of many parts that are useless on their own
How can limitation be responsible for an error?
The two gifts by God
Understanding
Our capacity to learn
limited
because
we
are
finite
=> we make errors because
our free will exceeds our understanding
A person standing on a crossroad can choose which route to follow even if he doesn’t know what they lead to
The importance of
indifference
- act upon your free will only when you are certain about your understanding
1 more item...
Free Will
the ability to act upon one's desires
Unlimited
Why should our free will be exceeding our understanding in terms of capability?
Because we can make false judgements
How can we confirm the spectrum theory if we can comprehend neither of the two extremes?
Understanding
an idea is
not
necessary
in order for you
to
experience
it
A poison apple may look the same way a normal apple looks
we can
understand
the idea of
perfection
because we can
think
of it
despite
not
being able to
experience
it.
Why won’t a universe in which everything is more perfect be more perfect itself?
The example of the
eyes
- the eyes of a person are something more
beautiful
than other parts of the body,
but
if the
whole
body
was covered in eyes it
wouldn’t
be
better
.
Meditation 5: On the existence of material things and God
How real is the physical world?
We do exist, but we do not need a medium in order to exist so it may all be just a simulation of some sort
In order for us to answer this question, we should
look inside our mind
, and
NOT
outside our body
(
rationalism + clear and distinct ideas
)
clear and distinct ideas
in relation to physical objects such as
shape
,
size
,
motion
, and
quantity
Descartes possesses mathematical knowledge about a triangle (has three sides)
he
learnt
this
(
was not born
with this knowledge
)
=> there are
clear and distinct ideas
that are
innate
about the
material
Rejected
that this
knowledge
came
from the senses
(empiricism) - there are
objects
he is
not able to observe
in the real world but is
still able to perceive
.
Regardless
of the
existence
of the
physical object
, the
ideas
about it such as its
shape
and
size
do
exist
as there are
innate
.
He can trust these as they are based on
reason
in the face of
mathematical principles
The existence of God
Inseparable
qualities
of some objects ( a triangle always has three sides) - part of its
essence
, and it
cannot be itself without
them
The
essence
of
God
is
omnipotence
,
benevolence
, and
omniscience
- God is a
supremely
perfect
being
.
Existence
is a
part
of
perfection
=> God should exist
Existence
is, therefore,
part
of the
essence
of
God
.
if we have the concept of God, God must exist
If you think of a
mountain
, a
valley
would follow. In the same way, if you are
thinking of God
,
existence
would
follow
Meditation VI: The existence of material things and the mind-body split
Imagination VS understanding
Understanding
- pure concepts
turns inwards
We can understand a thousand-sided regular polygon, without being able to imagine a picture of it (chiliagon)
Understanding > Imagination (rationalism)
=> IMAGINING IS NOT ACTUALLY A PROPERTY OF THE THINKING THING
Imagination
- images and representation
turns outwards
Perceptions by our senses
immediate perceptions such as pleasure, pain, emotion, hunger, heat, colour, smell, and taste.
If there isn't a physical world where do these experiences come from?
more vivid
than any other idea, yet
we
have
not
produced
nor
created
them
the
material
world
exists
, and so do the
corporeal
things
(corporeal things = finite substances)
Perception by the senses - very obscure and confused in many cases
=> The physical world exists, but the senses could still be deceiving us. This is the same as the Indirect Realism mode of thought.
God could have planted these ideas into us, but this would be a deception.
If God is a deceiver then he is not God, as benevolence is part of its inseparable essence
It is, however, not impossible, for us to be deceived, only for God to intend to deceive us
The relation between mind and body
Both the
mind
and
body
exist
independently
, although only the
mind
, and therefore, the ‘I’ is capable of
thinking
.
The
physical object
(body) possesses
extension
like in terms of
size
, which the
mind
does
not
possess
. The
essence
of the
mind
is, therefore, thought and it is
indivisible
in nature.
The ‘I’ is capable of existing without the body, thus further separating them
=>the mind and body are completely separate things.
they
intermingle
(Intermingling) in order to become
one
entity
thus creating the
physical thinking organism
that we are
The overcoming of the dreaming argument
Because of the existence of God, Descartes believes he can trust his memory (because of the no-deceiving nature of God)
He, therefore, trusts himself in that there is a difference between a sleeping and awake state
continuity
essential property of the material world’s time
observing continuity is a prove of not being asleep
not of the sleeping world’s one
Atanas Iliev, Maria Hristova 10/7
Smell, taste, colour
If a
person
is
one
and
the
same
they should accept that just like
we
can be
deceived
about our
body
,
we
can be
deceived
about
our
own
existence