Essay About Systematic Doubt And Father Of Modern Philosophy 1641-Philosophy

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DescartesThe father of modern philosophy 1641-philosophy was modernRepresented a revolution in thinkingBorn march 31, 1596 French city of Tours November 10th, 1619Meditated beside a stove/inside a stovePublished meditations in 1641He believed each person should ImaginationUnderstandingRelaxing the mind Descartes Meditation OneAbout the things we may doubtConsiderable value in the titles that Descartes gives to six of the meditationsAutobiographical textWritten entirely in the first person singularI think therefore I amFrom Principle 1“Insofar as it is possible, everything should be doubted once in a lifetime by whoever is searching for the truth”From principle 2“Things which are doubtful should be considered as if they were false”Philosophy need to be built on a very solid foundation just as you would construct a buildingThe overall aimTo assess reason (how?)By means of reason (why?)In order to obtain some general rule of evidenceTrue or falseThink of a basket of apples, we should turn the basket over and dump all apples out. We need to examine the basket that the apples were in. Methodic or systematic doubt Over turning common sense realism or naïve realism Belief that all knowledge comes from or through the sensesThings are exactly as they appear to be and they appear to be exactly the way they areReal DoubtsDoubts we actually have“sometimes” or “occasionally” Metaphysical doubtsDoubts that could happen“Let us assume…” or “what if” or “I will suppose that..”Let’s suppose just for the sake of argument, thatSometimes my senses deceive meExternal conditions are not idealWhen things areFar away Very smallLighting is poorIf they are ideal, I cannot doubt certain thingsLunatic HypothesisInternal conditions are not idealA lunatic cannot trust the veracity of his sensesDream HypothesisDescartes dream?As a man I am sometimes prone to dreamDreaming and being awake are alikePrinciple #4Why can we doubt observable thingsLet’s just suppose that I am asleep and dreaming thisSimple and universal thingsTrue whether I am awake or dreamingSuch simple and universal things seem to be true of all thingsColour (What colour)body extensionShape (What shape)Size (How big)Quantity (How many)Location (Where is it)Time (when did it take place)Two kinds of sciencePhysicsAstronomyMedicine/complexGeometry Arithmetic Principle 5Source of his beingsWhy we can doubt even mathematical demonstrationsLet’s just bracket God [God]God is just a fable or a fictionPrinciple 6That we have a free will which enables us to withhold our assent from doubtful things and thereby to avoid errorTo balance the scaleFormer questions decreaseMethodic doubts increased