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The fifth chapter turns from metaphysics to physics and applies his universal laws to scientific pursuits. The fifth chapter offers the reader one of the most challenging of applications, the superiority of man over beast, as the beast contains no soul, no reason and no thinking mind, and according to Descarts this is easily assumed because animals do not talk, therefore they do not reason and have no mind separate from their body. They are mechanisms of the universe, just as machines are mechanisms of the world of man. The modern reader, with a greater understanding of the animal and biological world is likely to argue that this is an example of the assumptions made trough tradition, as so much more is understood about the working of animals and the application of so many ideas of "social thought" than was ever imagined before and most modern people assume that man should not be separated from the animals simply because he talks and creates machines, but should be equated with animals as he is more like them that he wants to admit. I truly believe that Descartes may have been following many false assumptions as he divulges the proof of his assertion that animals are not reasonable creatures and that man is set apart from him. There is a clear sense of the character of his time sin this chapter and it is reflective of his education, rather than reason. Simply because we cannot understand an animal, does not mean he is more or less than we are. If the universe were ever to offer man a comparison to himself, such as an alien life form, then we would likely be unable to communicate with it, but we could never assume, especially if it reaches us, that it would be lesser or greater than ourselves, simply on communication alone. Descartes' closing chapter demonstrates the ideal of the purpose of writing and publishing. He divulges in the idea that though he, states he does not give much credence to his own thoughts he has been pressured by others to publish his works so they can be an example of learning for others.
The concept seems valuable, in that he has many strong points, and that if he had not done so we would not be able to read him today, but this is a contradiction for him, as his most immediate assertion is that every individual must learn these things for himself, through discovery. The final chapter also offers the reader the appropriate assertions of lack of malice, that were necessary in...
The works detailed here follow a line of reasoning that demonstrates individual responsibility for learning and the elimination of as many traditions and assumptions as possible, clearly a stoic ideal, as Descartes is also clearly a member of his own society, unable to set aside all to develop his goal of unencumbered observational thought.
Works Cited
Descartes, Rene. Descartes' Discourse on Method, and Other Writings. Translated by Wollaston, Arthur. Baltimore, MD: Penguin Books, 1960.
Rene Descartes, Descartes' Discourse on Method, and Other Writings, trans. Arthur Wollaston (Baltimore, MD: Penguin Books, 1960), 35.
Rene Descartes, Descartes' Discourse on Method, and Other Writings, trans. Arthur Wollaston (Baltimore, MD: Penguin Books, 1960), 36.
Rene Descartes, Descartes' Discourse on Method, and Other Writings, trans. Arthur Wollaston. (Baltimore, MD: Penguin Books, 1960), 42.
Rene Descartes, Descartes' Discourse on Method, and Other Writings, trans. Arthur Wollaston. (Baltimore, MD: Penguin Books, 1960), 53.
Rene Descartes, Descartes' Discourse on Method, and Other Writings, trans. Arthur Wollaston (Baltimore, MD: Penguin Books, 1960), 54.
Rene Descartes, Descartes' Discourse on Method, and Other Writings, trans. Arthur Wollaston (Baltimore, MD: Penguin Books, 1960), 55.
Rene Descartes, Descartes' Discourse on Method, and Other Writings, trans. Arthur Wollaston (Baltimore, MD: Penguin Books, 1960), 60.
Rene Descartes, Descartes' Discourse on Method, and Other Writings, trans. Arthur Wollaston (Baltimore, MD: Penguin Books, 1960), 101.
Rene Descartes, Descartes' Discourse on Method, and Other Writings, trans. Arthur Wollaston (Baltimore, MD: Penguin Books, 1960), 67.
Rene Descartes, Descartes' Discourse on Method, and Other Writings, trans. Arthur Wollaston (Baltimore, MD: Penguin Books, 1960), 81.
Rene Descartes, Descartes' Discourse on Method, and Other Writings, trans. Arthur Wollaston (Baltimore, MD: Penguin Books, 1960), 83.
Works Cited
Descartes, Rene. Descartes' Discourse on Method, and Other Writings. Translated by Wollaston, Arthur. Baltimore, MD: Penguin Books, 1960.
Rene Descartes, Descartes' Discourse on Method, and Other Writings, trans. Arthur Wollaston (Baltimore, MD: Penguin Books, 1960), 35.
Rene Descartes, Descartes' Discourse on Method, and Other Writings, trans. Arthur Wollaston (Baltimore, MD: Penguin Books, 1960), 36.
Rene Descartes, Descartes' Discourse on Method, and Other Writings, trans. Arthur Wollaston. (Baltimore, MD: Penguin Books, 1960), 42.
Descartes -- Discourse on the Method Rene Descartes was firmly rooted in the idea that all questions could be answered through mathematical or scientific means. His approach to constructing solutions, verifying knowledge, or establishing truths was methodical and based in the principles that had been established by others in relevant disciplines and were believed at the time to be reliable. He was the consummate introvert, believing that answers existed within and
Descartes Discourse IV For centuries, humans have wondered about certain basic paradigms of the universe -- how do we know what we know? Is there truth? Is there a God? How can we prove that? While we know that this basic question has been debated for centuries, it was Rene' Descartes who focused more that only the discovery of reasonable knowledge and eternal truths were found by reason alone. These truths,
Rene Descartes: Why Psychology Cannot be a Science Like Physics The philosophies and concepts presented in Rene Descartes' Meditations on First Philosophy illustrate several reasons why psychology cannot be a science like physics. These concepts include that truths are based on clear and distinct ideas, that the mind is not an object but a separate entity, that human psychology is a product of a reflex action between the mind and the
Sensory experiences are nor reliable for making any statements, since people often mistake one thing for another. (Descartes talks about mirages). Knowledge based on reasoning is not always trustworthy, because people often make mistakes. (adding numbers is a classical example). Finally, knowledge is deemed by Descartes to be illusory, since it may come from dreams or insanity or from demons able to deceive men by making them believe that
DESCARTES' BELIEVE IN GOD Descartes Believe in God Descartes' Believe in God Science attempts to prove how God did or does things. The assessment is heavily disputed by archaic religious doctrines. The traditional conflict between science and religion is entirely based on the dominion and not what is right or wrong. Rene Descartes' belief in God is not based on atheistic principles, but on blasphemy as seen from the way he investigates God's
If at the moment of stating this theory, animals were simply regarded as mindless creatures, their current status has changed. A large number of organizations received state funds to investigate the lives of animals and came up with astonishing results. The researches developed concluded that most animals had a very active brain and could reach high level of intelligence and communication skills. As such, even if a large part