In the Second Meditation, Descartes claimed to know with certainty that
According to the “Argument Interpretation” of Descartes’ cogito passage, the first thing that Descartes came to know with epistemic certainty was proposition p (“I exist”), and the way he came to know p with epistemic certainty was by utilizing the “Cogito Argument” (see below). One major problem with the Argument Interpretation is that
Cogito Argument
1. I think.
2. Anything that thinks exists.
C. I exist. [1, 2]
In Meno, Socrates explicitly says that knowledge is
According to Socrates in Phaedo, “the philosophical attitude” with respect to arguments is characterized by one’s goal of
In Meno, Socrates argues that true belief is just as good a guide to action as knowledge is.
In the First Meditation, Rene Descartes claims that his perceptual beliefs (e.g., I’m being warmed by the fire) can serve as the foundation for everything else he can come to know with certainty.
According to what we called the “Epistemic Discovery Interpretation” of Descartes’ cogito passage, Descartes came to know with certainty “I exist” in a moment of intuition (rational insight), as a result of his realization that the ultimate reason to doubt would be that
As we noted in class, Rene Descartes became disillusioned by his education, because he thought it was full of error. The one subject he was impressed by–and which became his model for gaining knowledge–was
A1 (see below) is a correct analysis of “having a certain indication of being awake”.
A1: Person S has a certain indication of being awake if and only if (i) S has a feature F that cannot be present unless S is awake, and (ii) F is unmistakably present in S's experience.
As we noted in class, the feature we described as follows: feeling a pinch from oneself:
Descartes believed that, in fact, an evil demon was deceiving him as much as it was possible for Descartes to be deceived.
Which scenario–Descartes’ evil genius scenario or Descartes’ dreaming scenario–is the most radical skeptical scenario (i.e., the scenario such that, were you in it, you would have the least knowledge)?
Which of the following is not among Descartes’ four rules of method?
A1 (see below) is a correct analysis of “having a certain indication of being awake”.
A1: Person S has a certain indication of being awake if and only if (i) S has a feature F that cannot be present unless S is awake, and (ii) F is unmistakably present in S's experience.
In class we noted that the feature we described as follows: having one’s brain waves in a waking-only pattern:
What is Descartes’ philosophical motivation for arguing for God’s reality?
One premise in Descartes’ ontological argument is the following: “Existence is a perfection”. Which one of the following states what Descartes means by that premise?
Descartes’ ontological argument in the Fifth Meditation is an argument that depends on
In the Sixth Meditation, Descartes concludes that
According to the Fourth Meditation, which one of the following represents Descartes’ considered view about his own errors?
According to Descartes’ conclusion in the Fourth Meditation, which one of the following expresses Descartes’ judgment about whether or not he can avoid erring?
In the Sixth Meditation, Descartes argues as follows:
The objection, which we discussed in class, to this argument is that
Descartes’ substance dualism is the view that
In class we noted that Descartes’ ontological argument in the Fifth Meditation requires interpretation, because each of its premises is ambiguous. According to one disambiguated version, the argument is as follows:
The problem we noted in class with this argument is that
A theodicy is
Everything with representative reality has intrinsic reality.