Transcript Rene Descartes - Portia Placino

Rene Descartes
•Life
•Works
1596-1650
He was born in March 21, 1596 at La Haye in
France of a noble family and was educated in
the celebrated Jesuit College of La Fleche,
where he received a philosophical and scientific
education according to the principles of the
Scholasticism of his day. He lived in a number of
different European countries at various periods
of time. In 1649, he went to the court of Queen
Christina of Sweden, being summoned there by
the Queen, who wished to study philosophy
under his direction. Unable to resist the rigors of
winter, he died in Sweden in February 11,1650
caused by pneumonia.
•Mathematical Philosopher
Used mathematical method for philosophizing
•Father of the Modern Philosophy
He provided the seed for a new philosophy that broke away
from the old in important ways.
•A Rationalist
Like Socrates and Plato, he believed that a certain knowledge
is only attainable through reason
• A Skeptic
“To reach certainty about nature of life, one should doubt
everything.”
•An Existence
“When I doubt, I have to be thinking, and because I am
thinking it have to be certain that I am a thinking being; one
cannot doubt without thinking; and if I THINK, I EXIST.”
• Believer of Perfect Entity
“ In my mind, I have a clear and distinct idea of a Perfect
Entity.”
•A Dualist
“Thought is quite independent of matter and conversely, the
material process are quite independent of thought.”
He applied the Mathematical
method on Science of Philosophy.
Mathematical beliefs are not based on
sensation but on reason.
According to Descartes a new method must
be the basis of all scientific and
philosophical research.
Descartes Rules of Logic
1. Never to accept anything as true which did not clearly
and distinctly know to be such (a method of doubt)
2. Divide each of the difficulties into as many parts as
possible (analysis)
3. Conduct the thoughts from the simplest and easiest
to the more complex (synthesis)
4. Make complete enumerations that nothing was
omitted
“Certain knowledge is only
attainable through reason.”
-Socrates
“Only
reason can give us certain
knowledge.”
- Plato
“ Like Socrates, Plato and St.
Augustine, Descartes is also a
typical rationalist”
“A man should accept that he
knew nothing.”
- Socrates
“If you would be a real seeker after the truth, it is
necessary that at least once in your life you
doubt, as far as possible, all things.”
“We must doubt question, and
reject all we hold as true, even our
own existence.”
“ We can never thrust what the
old books tells us, we cannot even
thrust what our senses tells us.”
“ One thing had to be true, and
that was he doubted.”
The intellectual institutions
argue that the truth could be
found in the bible.
Scholastic philosophy and
science was incapable of
discovering any new or useful
knowledge.
“Sometimes senses deceive,
they cannot be a reliable source
for knowledge “
“ Cogito, Ergo Sum!
I Think, Therefore I Exist!”
“One cannot doubt without
thinking; and if I think, I exist!”
Then Descartes asked himself
if there was anything more he
could perceive. He then
became to the conclusion on
the idea of Perfect Entity.
“The idea of perfect entity
cannot have originated from one
who was himself imperfect.
Therefore; That idea must have
originated from God who is
perfect entity.”
“The notion of God must
come from God.”
Proofs on the existence of God:
Logically, God would contain all the
characteristics of perfection: omniscient,
omnipotent, all-loving, etc.
Existence would be one of the qualities of
perfection.
Therefore, God must have that quality; He
must exist
“The Idea of God is innate.”
“substance is a thing requiring
nothing in order to exist.”
“Something cannot came from
nothing.”
“Res Cogitas” (God and the
human Soul)
Reality of thoughts or Mind
“Res Extensa”( the corporeal
world)
Extended reality or Matter
“There is a constant
interaction between the
mind and body.”
Pineal Gland
How does it works?
• Interaction of spirit and matter
• Mind can constantly affected by feelings
and passions that are related to bodily
needs
• mind can react independently from bodily
processes
God’s guarantee
• “Whatever we perceive with our
reason, also correspond to
reality.”
“ Only God exist independently of
anything else and no contact from
any other.”
Descartes
The Unanswered Epistemological
Questions
The determination of the
relationship between
God and the World
The relationship between the
Soul and the Body.