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Rene descartes first meditation analysis
Meditations on first philosophy descartes
Criticism of descartes second meditation
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In Alan Gewirth’s The Cartesian Circle Reconsidered, he expands on an argument he made in a previous paper in regards to a possible logical fallacy in Descartes Meditations on First Philosophy. This fallacy is called the Cartesian Circle in reference to Descartes apparently circular reasoning that he can have clear and distinct ideas because of God’s existence, but that the proof of God’s existence and is itself based on clear and distinct ideas. Gewirth’s response to critics of Descartes is that Descartes use different types of certainty to prove the existence and veracity of God compared to accuracy of clear and distinct ideas. The latter of these types of certainty, metaphysical certainty, is what he focuses on in The Cartesian Circle Reconsidered. Gewirth details three interpretations of why simple propositions are susceptible to metaphysical doubt: operational, conceptual, and ontological. His argument is that Descartes only means ontological doubt in the Meditations. However, while his arguments for this and against the conceptual interpretation are strong, his claim that the operational interpretation is weak is not as reasonable.
The operational interpretation claims that the potential doubt of simple propositions stems partly from a deception in the operation of memory on previous intuitions rather solely the intuitions themselves. Descartes himself says something to this effect this in meditation three,
“When I consider the nature of the triangle, it appears very clearly to me… that its three angles equal two right angles, and I cannot help believing this to be true as long as I attend to the proof; but as soon as I turn my mental gaze elsewhere, even though I may remember that I perceived it clearly, I can easily dou...
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...legitimate.
While Gewirth makes clear arguments for and against other interpretations, his argument against the operational interpretation is neither clear nor supported as strongly in the text as the others. Descartes specifically describes doubt of both intuitions and the memories of them that follow, and these are not necessarily as mutually exclusive as Gewirth would have his reader believe.
Works Cited
DESCARTES, René. "Descartes' Meditations and Associated Texts." Modern Philosophy: An Anthology of Primary Sources. Second ed. Indianapolis: Hackett, 2009. 35-68. Kindle AZW File.
GEWIRTH, Alan. “The Cartesian Circle Reconsidered.” The Journal of Philosophy 67:19 (1970): 668-685. Philosopher’s Index, EBSCOhost (accessed January 27, 2014). http://flagship.luc.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=phl&AN=PHL1030595&site=ehost-live
Descartes, René. "Meditation Three." Descartes, René. Meditations on First Philosophy. Trans. Donald A. Cress. Third Edition. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc., 1993. 24-35. Paperback.
Many readers follow Descartes with fascination and pleasure as he descends into the pit of skepticism in the first two Meditations, defeats the skeptics by finding the a version of the cogito, his nature, and that of bodies, only to find them selves baffled and repulsed when they come to his proof for the existence of God in Meditation III. In large measure this change of attitude results from a number of factors. One is that the proof is complicated in ways which the earlier discourse is not. Second is that the complications include the use of scholastic machinery for which the reader is generally quite unprepared -- including such doctrines as a Cartesian version of the Great Chain of Being, the Heirloom theory of causaltiy, and confusi ng terms such as "eminent," "objective" and "formal reality" used in technical ways which require explanation. Third, we live in an age which is largely skeptical of the whole enterprise of giving proofs for the existence of God. A puzzled student once remaked, "If it were possible to prove that God exists, what would one need faith for?" So, even those inclined to grant the truth of the conclusion of Descartes' proof are often skeptical about the process of reaching it.
It is, indeed, somewhat farfetched to assume Descartes’ intentions in the text, but given that expressing what would entail rejecting all established theological opinions, perhaps he, like many writers, decided to take a literary approach. For it seems that, while accomplishing the task of making readers realize uncertainty, the text convinced few who were not already faithful in the existence of God. And, seeing that the circular argument fallacy is quite obvious and unmistakable for anyone, it would be odd to think that Descartes’ himself was convinced by it, and more natural to think that he encountered the problem but continued out of some intention.
...ircle may have had a solid foundation and belief. However, I just gave you, with supporting evidence, my view of why the Cartesian circle is wrong and why I believe that Descartes was trying to make the point that God must exist in order for him or us to even have the clear and distinct perception to dwell on the idea of God, an idea that only God himself created. I hope this solves the issue of the Cartesian circle and hopefully strengthens Descartes argument of how the circle is false and he was maybe just misunderstood. My claim will stand that the Cartesian circle was just a big misunderstanding, and Descartes, by no means, interacted with the belief and structure of this falsified circle.
Moving up the tower of certainty, he focuses on those ideas that can be supported by his original foundation. In such a way, Descartes’s goal is to establish all human knowledge on firm foundations. Thus, Descartes gains this knowledge from the natural light by using it to reference his main claims, specifically the existence of God in Meditation III, and provide an explanation to his radical thoughts. In Meditation III “The existence of God,” Descartes builds his foundation of certainty in the natural light through the examination of God’s existence.
... middle of paper ... ... When the creator of the argument is not 100 percent behind it, it is very difficult to get behind it yourself. Even with the farfetched ideas, contradictions and inconsistencies of Rene Descartes’s dream argument, it is still a very interesting outlook on the topic that has not been seen from Descartes angle by anyone before.
One of Rene Descartes’ major culminations in Meditations on First Philosophy is “I must finally conclude that this proposition, I am, I exist, is necessarily true whenever it is put forward by me or conceived in my mind” (Descartes:17). This statement can be explicated by examining Descartes’ Cartesian method of doubt and his subsequent discovery of basic truths. Even though I do believe that Descartes concludes with a statement that is accurate: cogito ergo sum, there are areas of his proof that are susceptible to defamation. These objections discover serious error with Descartes’ method used in determining the aforementioned conclusion.
Descartes, Rene. The Philosophical Writings, tr. John Cottingham and Dugald Murdoch. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985.
Descartes, R. & Donald A. C. (1993). Discourse On Method; And, Meditations On First Philosophy / René Descartes; Translated By Donald A. Cress. Indianapolis: Hackett Pub. Co.
The teaching of Descartes has influenced many minds since his writings. Descartes' belief that clear and distinct perceptions come from the intellect and not the senses was critical to his ultimate goal in Meditations on First Philosophy, for now he has successfully created a foundation of true and certain facts on which to base a sold, scientific belief structure. He has proven himself to exist in some form, to think and therefore feel, and explains how he knows objects or concepts to be real.
Through Descartes’s Meditations, he sought to reconstruct his life and the beliefs he had. He wanted to end up with beliefs that were completely justified and conclusively proven. In order to obtain his goal, Descartes had to doubt all of his foundational beliefs so that he could start over. This left Descartes doubting the reality of the world around him and even his own existence. In order to build up to new conclusively proven and justified true beliefs, Descartes needed a fixed and undeniable starting point. This starting point was his cogito, “I think, therefore I am.” In this paper I will argue that Descartes’s argument that he is definite of his own existence, is unsound.
Descartes, Rene. Meditations on First Philosophy. Translated by John Cottingham. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge. 1996.
Descartes’ first two Meditations are arguably the most widely known philosophical works. Because of this, one can make the error of assuming that Descartes’ method of doubt is self-evident and that its philosophical implications are relatively minor. However, to assume this would be a grave mistake. In this paper, I hope to spread light on exactly what Descartes’ method of doubt is, and how, though it furnishes challenges for the acceptance of the reality of the external world, it nonetheless does not lead to external world skepticism.
[1] Descartes, Rene. Meditations on First Philosophy. 1641 [Translated by John Veitch (1901)] Meditation 6, http://www.classicallibrary.org/descartes/meditations/9.htm
In this paper I will describe the foundationalist structure of Descartes’ arguments in his work Meditations on First Philosophy. Foundationalism is the view that there are some beliefs are epistemologically basic and can be known without knowing anything else is true (Loeb, Lecture 1-14). For example, philosophers such as Descartes would acknowledge that geometric truths, such as 2 + 2 = 4, are so fundamental that they don’t need to be proven through argumentation. Thus, these truths can provide the basic foundation for further arguments. In my paper, I will show that two foundational claims of Descartes are first, the existence of the mind, and second, the existence of God. From these claims Descartes derives many others, including the argument for material objects and souls. As I lay out Descartes’ case, I will examine the philosophical soundness and validity of his foundationalist account, as well as its merits and potential weaknesses. In the end, I will conclude that Descartes’ foundationalism, while alluring in its simplicity, does not survive deeper investigation.