Essay 3: Descartes on the Method of Doubt In the Meditations on First Philosophy‚ we find Descartes at a point trying to suspend all beliefs that he held from his youth by destroying his unstable house of knowledge to build a more concrete foundation of certainty. In an attempt to rid himself of skepticism of his own beliefs‚ Descartes devises the method of doubt to eliminate all his current beliefs that could not possibly be true‚ leaving him only with the things in which he could be certain
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Even today‚ people admire the ideas of Socrates‚ Plato‚ and Aristotle. Their teachings are at the root of modern philosophy and science. Alfred Whitehead is quoted as saying: “The safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato.” If you really know how to read Plato‚ the truth behind this statement is easy to see. Nearly every great philosophical idea was discussed by Plato to some extent. The best way to put it is the way
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alteration; as a foreign seed sown in an alien soil is wont to be overcome and die out into the native growth‚ so this kind does not preserve its own quality but falls away and degenerates into the alien type. - Plato‚ Republic 497 c I. Introduction In the sixth book of the Republic‚ Plato describes a philosophic soul as an exotic seed planted in strange soil. Because the soil is foreign to the seed‚ its growth is stunted‚ if not overwhelmed‚ by the forces alien to its nature. The context of
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I will present the argument for how this behaviour can be interpreted as being conservative using narratives from Crito and The Republic. Lastly‚ I will argue why this behaviour instead demonstrates that Socrates was a radical. In the Apology‚ Plato provides a narrative of Socrates’ defence for using the elenchus‚ an exhaustive questioning method‚ to stir the position of Athenian citizens on traditional values (Jowett‚ 2009). Derived from various arguments in The Apology‚ Crito‚ and The Republic
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Descartes was the first mathematician to use the notation where the letters at the beginning of the alphabet represent data and the letters at the end of the alphabet to represent variables or unknowns. Descartes’ understanding of algebra was deep. He stated that the number of distinct roots of an equation is equal to the degree of the equation. Descartes was willing to consider negative (he called them false roots) and imaginary roots. He developed a rule for determining the number of positive
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Plato‚ student of Socrates‚ and Aristotle‚ student of Plato‚ two of the most influential philosophers to have ever walked the earth‚ take two completely different approaches whilst talking about the formation of city states and epistemology itself. Plato primarily defined the nature of things in theoretical terms through metaphysics‚ in contrast to actual terms. Thus by looking to the ’higher forms’ he aimed to explain the function of existing knowledge and understandings in the search for the ’absolute
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There were many great philosophers who have contributed in making philosophy what it is today‚ one of them being Plato. In addition to being an outstanding philosopher‚ he was also a mathematician and a writer. One of Plato’s biggest inspirations was his very own teacher Socrates. Socrates never wrote down a word of what he said‚ but thankfully Plato was able to record it all down for him and wrote many dialogues about Socrates words and teachings. One of Plato’s most famous works was his dialogue
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Euthyphro – Plato NAME PHI208: Ethics and Moral Reasoning Instructor date Euthyphro – Plato The discussion between Socrates and Euthyphro is one of the most famous Socratic discussions because of the meaning set behind the actions. This discussion is focused on what is the piety or the holiness asked by Socrates to Euthyphro. Socrates appoints Euthyphro to help him understand what piety is as he admits he does not know‚ in order to help with his case against him. They argue
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Plato/Descartes Reading Response In both Plato’s Allegory of the Cave and Descartes’ The Fourth Meditation‚ they discuss truth; what it is‚ where it comes from and how to differentiate it from falsehood and error. Plato’s paper is more metaphorical and uses imagery to paint a picture of his idea of truth‚ while Descartes’ is more straight forward‚ and uses examples. These papers are written very differently but are‚ at the same time‚ very similar when it comes to content. Although it’s not word
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forgiveness in him and for they even ask him to give them happiness. So when most people hear the phrase “God is dead” they laugh it off and continue with their day. But this gave birth to a new worldview in which God is not at the center. Friedrich Nietzsche is the one who coined the phrase in his text “The Madman”. This worldview describes that once we realize that God is dead and that we are the ones who killed him‚ we will pave the way for a better future for the generations to come. When the madman
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