Preview

Rene Descartes Second Meditation

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
527 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Rene Descartes Second Meditation
René Descartes contention in the Second Meditation Descartes rejects the proof of the senses as unreliable for certainty. His fundamental contentions depend on the psyche and body are particular and unmistakable and the movement that characterizes his presence is that of considering. Proceeding with his inquiry, he endeavors to discover something of which he can be certain beyond a shadow of a doubt - regardless of the fact that it is the reality that nothing is certain. His first port of call is to attempt to discover who is in charge of the discernments he gets through his detects. It might be God, a threatening evil spirit, or even Descartes himself who is capable. Indeed, even in the most dire outcome imaginable of the harmful evil presence, notwithstanding, Rene Descartes is guaranteed of one truth: so as to be tricked, the thing beguiled …show more content…
The demonstrations of strolling, eating, and so forth., which he considers as relating to the body, are raised doubt about on the grounds that they are too firmly bound up with the universe of the faculties. The demonstration of considering, notwithstanding, Descartes chooses is the main thing which can appropriately be said to have a place with the spirit or brain, which gives off an impression of being the same thing for Descartes. Accordingly, Descartes finishes up, his substance is characterized in the way that he is a reasoning thing. supposes he has now established that "I am." His next undertaking will be to research "what I am." He knows he exists, however what is this thing that he knows not reply, in a word: a mind. At the end of the section of the Second Meditation by Rene Descartes he expresses that, " “I am therefore not admitting that I am anything at all other than a thinking thing – that is, a mind, soul, understanding, or reason … I know that I am a real, existing thing, but what kind of
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    Descartes Meditation 1 Summary
    • 1108 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Descartes Meditation 1 Summary

    Thus, they can be called into doubt. He is aware that if something deceives you at least one time, it will again, and therefore it cannot be trusted. This is evident when he states, “I have noticed that the senses are sometimes deceptive; and it is a mark of prudence never to place our complete trust in those who have deceived us even once” (14). This statement proves that Descartes believes that his senses’ reliability can be called into question. For example, he states that our senses are not always accurate when it comes to perceiving small and distant objects, because we may mistake a fly on the wall for a smudge if we do not look at it from a close enough distance. By doing this, Descartes discredits the first claim he makes, which says that you must believe what your senses tell you. Therefore, he has discovered that he cannot rely on his senses for his intended philosophical foundation upon which he wishes to build his…

    • 1108 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Rethinking the Cartesian Circle in Descartes' Meditation 5
    • 1539 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Rethinking the Cartesian Circle in Descartes' Meditation 5

    Other than the Cogito stating ‘so long as I continue to think I am something,’ which was determined to be a first principle in the First Meditations, another self-evident truth arises in the beginning of the Third Meditation that is a crucial antecedent for Descartes’ belief system regarding the existence of God. This first principle explicitly states that everything Descartes’ thinking being clearly and distinctly perceives is true. A few other important claims are made in the Third Mediation that are especially relevant to the Fifth Mediations, such as the claim that ideas considered alone in their own right cannot be outwardly false. Accounting for intuitive error, Descartes elaborates that even though ideas might have proceeded from things outside him, it does not follow that these ideas must resemble those outside things. An idea for a substance however, or something that exists in itself, has a greater objective reality than ideas without a substance, because it is more clear and distinct. It is from this foundation that Descartes’ idea of God is defined as, “a certain substance that is infinite, independent, supremely intelligent and supremely powerful.”…

    • 1539 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Descartes: Meditation Iii Summary Essay
    • 836 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Descartes: Meditation Iii Summary Essay

    In Descartes’s Meditations III, the Meditator describes his idea of God as "a substance that is infinite, eternal, immutable, independent, supremely intelligent, supremely powerful, and which created both myself and everything else."(70) Thus, due to his opinion in regards to the idea of God, the Meditator views God containing a far more objective reality than a formal one. Due to the idea that of God being unable to have originated in himself, he ultimately decides that God must be the cause of the idea, therefore he exists. The meditator defines God as such, “by ‘God’ I mean the very being the idea of whom is within me, that is, the possessor of all the perfections which I cannot grasp, but can somehow reach in my thought, which subject no defects whatsoever.” (70)…

    • 836 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    An Analysis of Descartes’ First Meditation
    • 1451 Words
    • 6 Pages

    An Analysis of Descartes’ First Meditation

    In Descartes’ First Meditation, Descartes’ overall intention is to present the idea that our perceptions and sensations are flawed and should not be trusted entirely. His purpose is to create the greatest possible doubt of our senses. To convey this thought, Descartes has three main arguments in the First Meditation: The dream argument, the deceiving God argument, and the evil demon “or evil genius”. Descartes’ dream argument argues that there is no definite transition from a dream to reality, and since dreams are so close to reality, one can never really determine whether they are dreaming or not. To reinforce that argument, Descartes presents the deceiving God argument. He says that since God is all powerful, then he has the power to deceive us about reality or our dreams. But again, Descartes feels this argument is missing something, which is why he concludes with the evil genius argument. The evil genius argument’s purpose is to tie all these arguments together and strengthen Descartes’ entire argument. The evil genius argument goes like this: God is omnipotent and supremely good, which means God cannot be the one who deceives humans, rather, a separate entity -- an "evil genius, [who is] supremely powerful and clever, who has directed his entire effort at deceiving me" (Descartes 492). By deceiving, I mean tricking humans that their sensations and perceptions are real, when they are indeed not real. To overcome this evil genius, Descartes says he will regard all external things as “hoaxes of my dreams, with which he (the evil genius) lays snares for my credulity” (Descartes 492). In this analysis, I will further discuss Descartes’ arguments in the First Meditation, the purpose of the evil genius argument, how Descartes attempts to overcome the power of this great deceiver, and ultimately why his attempt is…

    • 1451 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Descartes v Hume
    • 1543 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Descartes v Hume

    In Meditation I, Descartes reflects on his past beliefs and realizes how so much that he once believed to be true was actually false. To separate what is truth from fiction; Descartes decided to completely reject anything which he can doubt at all. He wrote, “If I am able to find in each some reason to doubt, this will suffice to justify my rejecting the whole” (Descartes 4). The belief that inspired this method was that genuine truth was clear and distinct and that any doubt whatsoever could not provide absolute certainty. In essence, if any component of something was in the very least questionable, then any conclusion drawn from it would be at the most questionable. This method led Descartes to doubt practically everything he once believed, especially knowledge attained through the senses. He wrote, “All that up to the present time I have accepted as most true and…

    • 1543 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Descartes Systematic Doubt In Meditations On First Philosophy
    • 3392 Words
    • 14 Pages

    Descartes Systematic Doubt In Meditations On First Philosophy

    "Give a detailed account of Descartes ' systematic doubt or methodical doubt in Meditation 1, making it certain that you distinguish between real doubts and so called hypothetical/metaphysical doubts. Then, explain in detail, exactly how Descartes dispels each and every one of these doubts during the course of the subsequent Meditations beginning with the cogito. Do you think that Descartes has been completely successful? Explain."The main goal of Descartes in Meditations on First Philosophy was to find truth behind all of his beliefs in order to build a solid foundation of certainty, and to focus his beliefs strictly on his idea of certainty; essentially to question knowledge. Descartes beliefs are mainly based on the theory that, if someone thinks that they really know something, they must be correct. Descartes meditations bring…

    • 3392 Words
    • 14 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Rene Descartes Wax Argument
    • 2076 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Rene Descartes Wax Argument

    By "thing," Descartes could simply be using the word as we do today, as an ambiguous throwaway word when we don't want to be more specific. More likely, though, he is using it to mean substance, the fundamental and indivisible elements of Cartesian ontology. In this ontology, there are extended things (bodies) and thinking things (minds), and Descartes is here asserting that we are minds rather than bodies. Of course, "thinking" is also highly questionable. Does Descartes mean only the intellection and understanding that is characteristic of the Aristotelian conception of mind? Or does he also include sensory perception, imagination, willing, and so on? At the beginning of the Second Meditation, the Meditator has cast sensory perception and so on into doubt, but by the end of the Second Meditation, sensing, imagining, willing, and so on are included as attributes of the mind. This question is further explored in the commentary on the next…

    • 2076 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Descartes Meditation 1 Analysis
    • 482 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Descartes Meditation 1 Analysis

    After this doubt Descartes reasons that rather than a Deity, it is an evil demon that deceives him. Here he starts to doubt things such as the sky, air, Earth, colors, figures, and sounds. He attributes these to being mere illusions of dreams. By the end of Meditation one, Descartes has doubted his senses, his prospect of reality, God, and an evil demon. All of these things lead him back to where he started at the beginning of his writing. He even states himself that he has “fallen back into the train of my former beliefs.” With this, Descartes has chosen to retreat back under his personal blanket of ignorant…

    • 482 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    René Descartes Meditations On First Philosophy
    • 232 Words
    • 1 Page

    René Descartes Meditations On First Philosophy

    Another philosophical reference found in the Matrix is the work of René Descartes. He is responsible for Cartesian coordinates, a system that specifies each point uniquely in a plane by a pair of numerical coordinates, and the phrase, “I think, therefore I am.” In his book Meditations on First Philosophy, he poses the question of how we can know that the world we experience daily is not an illusion being forced upon us by an evil demon. Because we believe what we see and feel when we are dreaming, how can we trust that our senses will tell us when we are no longer dreaming. If senses cannot provide us with proof that the world we live in actually exists, then senses are unreliable and that for all we know, the world might be under the control…

    • 232 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Descartes Meditation 2 Analysis
    • 199 Words
    • 1 Page

    Descartes Meditation 2 Analysis

    In his powerful philosophical treatise, “Meditations on First Philosophy: Meditation II”, Descartes remains persistent in his argument concerning doubt. Descartes expresses the probability that the knowledge concerning external things is possibly invalid due to the consequences caused by the actions of a wicked demon. Descartes continues to pursue along with his argument by stating that some things that must be true is his existence and his nature as a thinking man. Descartes declares that his body is more easily apparent though his mind then through his actual body. For Descartes to better explain his statement, he compares his statement to a piece of wax in an effort to make it easier to understand. Descartes melts the wax to demonstrate…

    • 199 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Rationalism Exam
    • 472 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Rationalism Exam

    In his first Meditation, he describes that our ordinary experience of the world cannot guarantee a good foundation on which all knowledge is based upon. His second Meditation begins with Descartes wondering if there really is anything that we can know. He notices problem with our senses; optical illusions. He continues doubting the credibility of his senses by noting that we perceive distant objects to be smaller than they really are.…

    • 472 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Descartes Meditation Iii
    • 1297 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Descartes Meditation Iii

    In the "Mediations of First Philosophy" Descartes tries to prove the existence of God in the third meditation. He does this by coming up with several premises that eventually add up to a solid argument. First, I will explain why Descartes ask the question, does god exist? And why does Descartes think he needs such and argument at this point in the text. Secondly, I will explain, in detail, the arguments that Descartes makes and how he comes to the conclusion that God does exist. Next, I will debate some of Descartes premises that make his argument an unsound one, including circular reasoning. Finally, I will see if his unsound argument has diminished and undermined his principal goals and the incorrigible foundation of knowledge.…

    • 1297 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Meditations By Rene Descartes Research Paper
    • 379 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Meditations By Rene Descartes Research Paper

    In the beginning of Meditations Descartes’ describes himself as being “taught by nature.” By this he means that his physical being is naturally and intuitively adherent to the idea that our senses control our views on any object. At first, he believes that images in his head often match objects that appear outside of his mind. What he thinks an object is, indeed is what it appears to be outside of his thoughts. Descartes uses the example of fire to express this idea. His senses assert the idea of fire to being hot and he also feels heat coming from the fire. Therefore, the ideas in his mind and the physical object outside of his mind are cohesive to one another. Another example…

    • 379 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Rene Descartes First Meditation Summary
    • 507 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Rene Descartes First Meditation Summary

    In Descartes work he mentions that our senses are not to be trusted, for they have deceived us once and surely will deceive us again. As he clearly stated in his meditation, “All that up to the present time I have accepted as most true and certain I have learned either from the senses or through the senses; it is sometimes proved to me that these senses are deceptive, and it is wiser not to trust entirely…

    • 507 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Descartes Fifth Meditation Analysis
    • 840 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Descartes Fifth Meditation Analysis

    The fifth meditation starts off by Descartes straying away from meditating on the aspects of himself and God and compelling himself to focus on what he was pondering on a few days ago: material things. But before Descartes tries to reason if material things outside himself exist, he must first make sure material things can be definite outside his thoughts without being subjected to doubtfulness. Other than that, anything outside these parameters has to be omitted and seen as distractions from what he is trying to ponder on. He has to understand the difference between the material things that are definite and the material things that are ambiguous or bring about doubt and being deceived through the senses. Descartes first has to audit his…

    • 840 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More