All familiar is the term “tabula rasa” that was introduced by John Locke in the seventeenth century and is covered in history of psychology classes. In the late nineteenth century, Friedrich Nietzsche claimed that humans are left in a “cosmic tabula rasa” without religion, science, and metaphysics. Nietzsche proclaimed that God is dead, and more importantly, he said that the philosophers and scientists have killed God. According to Nietzsche, the absence of a transcendental force, which had served as a traditional source of meaning and morality, meant that humans were on their own. This leaves humans with a “cosmic tabula rasa”. Nietzsche presented the idea of perspectivism, which stated that there were no abstract truths waiting to be discovered by all; instead, there were only individual perspectives (Hergenhahn, 1992).
On the other hand, Descartes would disagree with Nietzsche’s way of thinking. Instead, Descartes suggested that there are “innate ideas” in which some ideas are experienced with such clarity that the ideas should be accepted
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Introduced in the early twentieth century, Jung’s idea of the collective unconscious is most mystical, most controversial, yet perhaps most important concept. Contrary to Locke’s idea of tabula rasa, Jung claims that the collective unconscious is the deepest part of personality and is composed of common experiences of humans throughout the years. Jung terms each inheritance as an “archetype”. According to Jung, an archetype is a framework for perceptual and emotional experience. This framework predisposes people to perceive things in a certain way, to react emotionally in certain ways, and to act in a certain way (Hergenhahn, 1992). The word certain is used a lot in this passage in the text, and the term certain leaves no room for ambiguity. Therefore, I do not agree with the use of this term because what is really ever
...d of a Buddhist koan, which is intended to break the hold of logic on the mind. However, rather than breaking the hold of logic on the mind, Nietzsche, with his jibing remarks, swashbuckling writing style, self-contradictions, and secrecy, is intending to break the hold of socially determined "masks," or Isms, from the perceptions of the new philosopher who will arise the day after tomorrow. Nietzsche shows us how to philosophize without Isms. The only question remaining is whether we are strong enough to take his advice.
"The Archetypes and the Collected Unconscious."The Collected Works of C.G. Jung. 2nd ed. Ed. Carl G. Jung. London: Routledge, 1990. 393-417.
...ples ideas based on the operations of our own mind. For example, the idea of a unicorn is also a complex idea, along with God, while many of us have seen a picture of a unicorn someone had to invent the original idea of what a unicorn is without seeing a picture. The operations of our own mind have created this idea of God, which rebuts Descartes’ argument that we have knowledge on the external world because of God. Descartes would argue that Humes’ idea of God is natural and never derived from impressions. Hume’ consequently has the better argument claiming that idea of god is actually based on ideas of perfection and infinity is inferred from the ideas of imperfection and finitude.
In efforts to find truth, Descartes used only his logic to identify his existence. He also proved that there is some type of knowledge that we are born with. “Some of our ideas seem to be “born with me,” some “invented” by me, whereas others “come from without” (Descartes, 2008, p. 211). Which means Descartes believed that we enter this world with some innate ideas that overtime helps us to develop understanding of our sense (invented by me) and through our experiences (comes from without). Descartes was a dualist; he stated that there existed something outside of our bodies. Descartes suggested that at the “ghost in the machine” theory developed by Gilbert Ryle, which states that there is some mystical being, which we understand is the mind, that is primary to the machine (or the body). Which leads me to believe, innate ideas are active within our minds.
Neither a systematic philosopher nor a rigid thinker, Nietzsche offers his own nihilistic spin on the topic of free will. The three different approaches to free will by Nietzsche, Hume, and Descartes all obtain their strong suits as well as their pitfalls. Nietzsche insists free will is created by theologians and therefore denies its existence, while Descartes embraces free will, and Hume individualizes the meaning of free will. With the “Design Argument” in Meditations on First Philosophy to ignite his proclamation on the topic of free will, Descartes summons free will to be given entirely through the creator, God. With his robust belief in God, Descartes concludes that free will is attributed to God’s creation of a person.
In constructing his argument for God's existence, Descartes analyzes several aspects of the nature of human thought. He begins by outlining the various types of thoughts we have, which include ideas, thoughts, volitions and judgments. Ideas, or images of ideas can only exist within the mind and are certain of existence. Volitions, or choices are firmly within the mind and are also certain. Emotions, such as love, fear, hate, all exist in the mind and are certain as well. Judgments involve reference to effects outside the mind and are subject to doubt. Therefore, judgments are not certain and distinct. Descartes believes that images, volitions, and emotions are never false but it is our judg...
Next, in the fourth meditation, which leads into Descartes’ thoughts on himself in God’s view. It is important to compare to the third meditation. A second point of view of not just an idea, but now Descartes himself. He asks why a perfect being such as God does not make a perfect being like Descartes himself. He questions why he is not perfect in that sense. Then he explains, it would take much arrogance to question the motives of God. Not only that, but it just simply cannot be comprehended. He rejects the trial, and simply believes; since he himself is not perfect, the idea as a whole may be. He is just a part of the “big picture.” He then concludes he should only make judgements on what he is certain of.
Carl Jung was a Swiss psychologist and psychiatrist who developed many theories concerning the unconscious mind. Jung’s theories state that the unconscious part of a human’s psyche has two different layers, the personal unconscious and the collective unconscious. The personal unconscious is unique to every individual; however, the collective unconscious “is inborn.” (Carl Jung, Four Archetypes, 3) The collective unconscious is present in everyone’s psyche, and it contains archetypes which are “those psychic contents which have not yet been submitted to conscious elaboration” (Jung, Archetypes, 5); they are templates of thought that have been inherited through the collective unconscious. Jung has defined many different archetypes such as the archetype of the mother, the archetype of the hero, the archetype of the shadow, etc. These Jungian archetypes are often projected by the collective unconscious onto others. If the novel A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving is examined through a Jungian archetypal lens it is possible to discern different archetypes projected by the protagonist’s unconscious self to illustrate the effects of the collective unconscious on character and plot analysis.
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.
Unlike one of empiricism’s major tenets, Tabula Rasa, or blank slate, Descartes believed that the mind was not a blank slate, but actually came pre-loaded, if you will, with ideas, which are part of our rational nature and that our rational nature allows us to grasp . Descartes begins his journey deep within his own mind by claiming that all truths can be conceived by thinking about them. He calls his method cogito or pure reasoning. His famous words “I think, therefore I am,” describes the way that he thinks the mind is the true reality with the rest of reality being an extension. His example to prove thi...
Plato and Descartes have similarities and differences in their views about the intellectual ascent and the ability to achieve certain knowledge and the extent of rationality. Both authors agree that in order to attain certainty, we must look beyond the surface and have a deeper understanding, but Descartes argues that, even then, only a few things can be certain. Also, Plato and Descartes both acknowledge that a higher power is the source of reasoning. However, Descartes believes that God is the perfect being and that we should depend on him for truth and reason whereas goodness is the basis of reasoning for Plato. If we follow Plato and Descartes’ philosophies, then we can bypass solely relying on our senses and be fulfilled intellectuals.
Descartes was incorrect and made mistakes in his philosophical analysis concerning understanding the Soul and the foundation of knowledge. Yes, he coined the famous phrase, “I think therefore I am,” but the rest of his philosophical conclusions fail to be as solid (Meditation 4; 32). Descartes knew that if he has a mind and is thinking thoughts then he must be something that has the ability to think. While he did prove that he is a thinking thing that thinks (Meditation 3; 28), he was unable to formulate correct and true philosophical arguments and claims. For instance, his argument for faith that a non-deceiving God exists and allows us to clearly reason and perceive was a circular argument. Another issue with Descartes' philosophy is that he wanted to reconcile scientific and religious views, which is wrong since the two maintain completely different foundational beliefs and they should exist exclusively- without relation to the other. Thirdly, he believed that the mind was the Self and the Soul, failing to recognize that humans have bodies and the outside world exists, and through which we gain our knowledgeable. Lastly, Descartes argues that ideas are all innate while they actually are not- we gain knowledge through experience.
The great psychologist-philosopher Carl Jung was briefly a student of Freud. Because Jung felt that Freud's approach to psychoanalysis was by far too narrow, he broke off from his teachings, and made significant contributions to mythological criticism. Jung's greatest contribution was his theory of archetypes. His proposal of archetypes argues that there is one original pattern or model of all things of the same type. According to Jung, beneath the personal unconscious is a collective unconscious that is in the psychic inheritance of all humans. Jung thought of the collective unconscious as a sort of memory bank that stores images and ideas that humans have accumulated over the course of evolution.
Carl Jung, propose the theory of the collective unconscious, based on his theory, which goes beyond of Freud’s analysis of the conscious mind, the unconscious is divided into two (2) layers. We have the personal unconscious, where is very similar with the Freudian Theory of the unconscious mind, where all of our thoughts and forgotten experience our store, but we have another dipper layer, the collective unconscious. The collective unconscious is a universal unconscious shared among the humankind, where information which had passed from generation to generation is stored. That information might be fears, or instincts which have helped us to survive, innate thoughts; used as a tool and inheritance from our ancestors in order to provide us the best chance of survival. Based on Jung theory: “The form of a world into [a person] is born is already inborn in him, as a virtual image (Jung, 1953, p.188). He called these memories, as ancestral memories and image archetypes, as different cultures all over the world share similar characteristics without having any interaction with one another, thus the behaviors and actions had been carried with them innate as a part of a code among
Remember that according to Descartes, what I know first and foremost are my ideas. It is only later that he seeks to know if the extramental world exists, and so he begins with his ideas and then moves towards real being (rather than vice versa). Somewhere along the line the notion of idea undergoes a transformation. Soon an idea becomes a sense impression or an image. Remember that for the Greeks and Mediaeval thinkers, an idea is not reducible to an image. An idea cannot be imagined, but is an essence abstracted from the phantasm and understood. But this gets confused after Descartes. For example, John Locke says that ideas "...stand for whatsoever is the object of the understanding when a man thinks, I have used it to express whatever is meant by phantasm, notion, species, or whatever it is which the mind can be employed about in thinking..."