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Descartes uses such reasoning not only to establish the presence of those things that can be verified by the use of the senses, but also to establish the existence of God and the immortality of the soul. Descartes begins with the premise that neither mountains nor valleys may exist, but that if they do exist, then "a necessary attribute of a mountain is that it be adjacent to a valley" (Burnham and Fieser). Descartes acknowledges that the same could be said of the existence of God: This conclusion demonstrates the flaw in the method of doubt and exposes the flaw that is present in the Meditations.
In the same way, even though the concept of supremely perfect being necessarily possesses certain attributes, it doesn't follow that this being exists. It only entails that should a God exist, His existence would be necessary. Descartes replies that this misses the analogy, and falls to his reply to the first objection. With ordinary ideas, to be sure, existence is never necessary - but other properties may be, and that is where the analogy lies (Burnham and Fieser).
Works Cited
Burnham, Douglas and James Fieser. "Rene Descartes." The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2001. University of Tennessee at Martin. 4 Mar. 2005 http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/d/descarte.htm.
Chew, Robin. "Rene Descartes: Philosopher." Lucidcafe. 2005. Lucidcafe. 4 Mar. 2005 http://www.lucidcafe.com/lucidcafe/library/96mar/descartes.html.
Descartes, Rene. "Meditations." Eds. David B. Manley and Charles S. Taylor. Descartes'
Meditations. 1996. Wright State University. 4 Mar. 2005 http://www.wright.edu/cola/descartes/.
Works Cited
Burnham, Douglas and James Fieser. "Rene Descartes." The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2001. University of Tennessee at Martin. 4 Mar. 2005 http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/d/descarte.htm.
Chew, Robin. "Rene Descartes: Philosopher." Lucidcafe. 2005. Lucidcafe. 4 Mar. 2005 http://www.lucidcafe.com/lucidcafe/library/96mar/descartes.html.
Descartes, Rene. "Meditations." Eds. David B. Manley and Charles S. Taylor. Descartes'
Meditations. 1996. Wright State University. 4 Mar. 2005 http://www.wright.edu/cola/descartes/.
Carrying it to the next logical step, he says that all opinions are false until proven otherwise, and perhaps it is not he himself who is responsible for his own deception, but rather it is "some deceitful demon" who is so clever and capable that he can blur the reality of "the sky, the air, the earth" into a dream or illusion. Meantime, Williams writes that Descartes is the kind of
Some of the reason for error, therefore, is not related to indifference or for not having enough time to fully consider some matter. Some of it is due to man's propensity to flaw, and to his limited ability (which is related to his limited mental and physical power). In addition to misinterpreting the nature of the relationship between intellect and free will, Descartes has incorrectly interpreted some of the most
The previous sorts of error apply to particular classes of object or condition: refraction (so far as common errors of perception are concerned) affects the appearance of sticks in water and a few other things; jaundice, so it is said, affects apparent color. But anything I can perceive, I can dream that I perceive. Confronted with an apparently bent stick, experience of refraction-illusions can put me on my guard
Descartes and Doubt The question to be addressed is as follows: if you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt, as far as possible, all things? As the following will illustrate, I am convinced that the answer is in the affirmative. Moreover, I believe that the query is unnecessarily qualified; in my estimation, any pursuit of truth demands exercising
Descartes assumes that it is reliable, when searching for true knowledge, to conclude that any principle that is obtained from our senses is false. His doubts are furthered by the deception of the content of our dreams, which is assembled and often mimics features we encounter throughout our lives. It is possible that our perceptions in which we establish a belief on was conjured while dreaming. However there are
In other words, yes he has found doubt in everything, but he now sees that his finding doubt in everything is something. Because he doubts, he must exist! He could doubt everything his senses told him. He could even doubt he had a body. But he could not doubt he had a mind because if he did not have a mind, how could he doubt? The steps Descartes takes to