1 / 9

The Rationalists: Descartes The Cartesian Doubt

The Rationalists: Descartes The Cartesian Doubt. Life : 1. Brilliant but not complaisant student 2. “Bene vixit qui bene latuit” 3. Dies in Sweden (Queen Christina). Descartes: Life and Works. Interests : 1. Not Aristotelian philosophy 2. New system 3. Pragmatic matters.

roywoods
Download Presentation

The Rationalists: Descartes The Cartesian Doubt

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. The Rationalists: Descartes The Cartesian Doubt Soazig Le Bihan - University of Montana

  2. Life: 1. Brilliant but not complaisant student 2. “Bene vixit qui bene latuit” 3. Dies in Sweden (Queen Christina) Descartes: Life and Works Interests: 1. Not Aristotelian philosophy 2. New system 3. Pragmatic matters Works: 1. The World – physics 2. Discourse – Meditations – Principles 3. Passions of the soul and letters to Elizabeth Soazig Le Bihan - University of Montana

  3. The Meditations: Aim and Method Topic and Style: - Topic: Metaphysics - Style: Analytic (by contrast to synthetic) Aims: - Avowed: Proof of the existence of God and separation of the soul from the body - Ultimate: Give a definite foundation to the new science Descartes is a FOUNDATIONALIST Soazig Le Bihan - University of Montana

  4. The Meditations: Aim and Method Method: The Rational Stance • Defense of the use of reason for religious matters • Proper method: demonstration and certainty Two enemies: • Prejudices • Senses Soazig Le Bihan - University of Montana

  5. The Cartesian Doubt: What is it and what is it for? General Project: - General destruction of all his opinions – Why? No firm foundation - “to raze everything to the ground and begin again from the original foundations” in order to build firm science The Cartesian Doubt: • Universal • Hyperbolic • Radical • Methodological Soazig Le Bihan - University of Montana

  6. The Cartesian Doubt: The Senses Why the senses? One of the roots of knowledge Arguments: • The traditional argument is not enough • Dream argument: no sufficient criterion to tell that we are not dreaming. Result: are doubtful (and hence taken as false): • The existence of the external world • The existence of my own body Soazig Le Bihan - University of Montana

  7. The Cartesian Doubt: Mathematical Notions The most fundamental constituents: Anything left? Arguments: Analogy with painting Painting: Imagination / Dream Components: body parts bodies Most General: colors corporeal nature CORPOREAL NATURE: Magnitude, Extension, Duration Against Aristotle! Soazig Le Bihan - University of Montana

  8. The Cartesian Doubt: The Evil Genius Would it be possible that I be deceived concerning math?:  Deceiving God? The case of the Atheist – even less reason to believe he or she can attain firm knowledge Conclusion – Not a single part of the entire body of knowledge seems to be indubitable Soazig Le Bihan - University of Montana

  9. The Cartesian Doubt: Conclusion The danger of habits: doubting is not easy The power of will: focus and resolution The First Meditation is destructive: • Method of Doubt: anything doubtful is taken as false • Aim: reconstruct new foundations for knowledge • Result: no part of knowledge seems to be indubitable Soazig Le Bihan - University of Montana

More Related