I&D

Question 1

intuition

Answer 1

Knowledge that’s self-justified. It doesn’t need an argument and it isn’t based on experience.

Question 2

deduction

Answer 2

Knowledge that comes from a valid argument and isn’t based on experience

Question 3

clear and distinct idea

Answer 3

an intuition

Question 4

Descartes intuition and deduction thesis

Answer 4

1.The only possible way of gaining knowledge is a priori intuition and deduction

2.A priori intuition and deduction succeeds in giving us knowledge, including knowledge about what exists

Question 5

Descartes cognito

Answer 5

I think therefore I am. This is not based on experience, it is an a priori intuition that is the foundation for all other knowledge

Question 6

Descartes’ cosmological argument for the existence of God

Answer 6

P1: I exist as a being from one moment to the next and this requires a cause.

P2: There are 3 options for this cause: (1) me, (2) some other finite being (e.g. my parents), (3) God.

P3: I cannot be the cause of my continued existence because I don’t have this power (if I did then I would know I did, and I don’t!)

P4: No other finite being could be the ultimate cause of my continued existence as: they do not keep me in existence from moment to moment; they only brought my physical body into existence, not me as a thinking thing.

P5: My continued existence cannot be the result of various separate non-divine causes and must be, rather, one being

C: Therefore, the only possible cause of my continued existence is one supremely perfect being

C2: Therefore, God must exist.

Question 7

Descartes’ ontological argument for the existence of God

Answer 7

P1: I have a concept of God as a supremely perfect being.

P2: A supremely perfect being has all perfections.

P3: Existence is a perfection.

C: Therefore God exists.

Question 8

Descartes’ proof of the external world

Answer 8

P1: I have perceptual experiences as if of physical objects, which must have a cause.

P2: This cause must be either my own mind, God, or external physical objects.

P3: If the cause were my own mind, those perceptual experiences would be voluntary.

P4: However, they are not voluntary

P5: If the cause were God or some being God made, rather than physical objects, then those perceptual experiences would be deceptive

P6: However, they cannot be deceptive since God exists and is not a deceiver.

C1: Therefore, those perceptual experiences must be caused by external physical objects

C2: Therefore, there is an external world of physical objects.

Question 8

Foundationalism

Answer 8

A view about the way in which knowledge is structured and related to other knowledge according to which there is
A) at least some non-inferentially justified foundational knowledge and then
B) other inferentially-justified knowledge claims which are based upon these foundational beliefs and justified by them.

Question 9

Rationalist foundationalism

Answer 9

where the foundational knowledge is a priori intuitions and then a priori deduction is used to justify the further non-foundational beliefs.