Rene Descartes First Meditation Analysis
The seventeenth-century French philosopher René Descartes is considered by many to be the founding father of modern philosophy. The seventeenth-century marked a turning point in history, Europeans began to explore the world by sea in search of new trade routes and moved away from the traditional Catholic Church to focus on scientific discoveries. One of Descartes most famous pieces of work was the Meditations on the First Philosophy, published in 1641. The Meditation on the First philosophy, which comprises of six meditations, is essentially summarizing a collection of thoughts Descartes had previously written about in his earlier text, the Discourse on Method. In the first meditation, Descartes notices that over the course of his life, he …show more content…
During the time period this was written, the idea of “faith” and trusting in something/someone you cannot see was something the Catholic Church held to the highest standard. However, Descartes suggests to doubt all types of knowledge unless it is self-verifying and unquestionable. . After speculating the things, he was confident he knew about himself and society, he concluded with, “I am, I exist”. After he recognized that he holds some sort of presence, he continues to argue, “But I do not yet understand sufficiently what I am”. As an example, Descartes presents the Wax Argument, which provides a solid foundation for his following meditations. Descartes examines a piece of wax, by writing in detail about its properties. It looks, feels, and smells like wax. We could conclude that it certainly is wax. Descartes then holds the piece of wax next to a flame and the wax begins to melt. He examines the wax again after it melted and writes in detail that it looks, smells, and feels different than it did before it was melted. However, we can say that it is the same wax as before. Even though sensory properties of the piece of wax changed, an object is still an object after undergoing external change. We see this change in nature as well, like a caterpillar
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726 Words | 3 PagesWe know clear and distinct perceptions independently by God, and his existence provides us with a certainty we might not possess otherwise. However, another possible strategy would be to change Gods role in Descartes philosophy. Instead of seeing God as the validation of clear and distinct perceptions, rather see him as a safeguard against doubt. This strategy, however, is a problem since it re-constructs the Meditations – Philosophical work of Descartes –.This is because it would not be God, who is the ultimate foundation of knowledge, but the clear and distinct
Rene Descartes Second Meditation
722 Words | 3 PagesRene Descartes is considered as one of the most important founders of modern day philosophy. His greatest contribution to philosophy is his meditations. This paper aims at establishing what wax represents in Descartes meditations. In his second meditation, Descartes introduces the idea of wax freshly obtained from honeycombs.
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How Does Rene Descartes Still Exist
1393 Words | 6 PagesHowever, I have noticed that the senses are sometimes deceptive; and it is a mark of prudence never to place our complete trust in those who have deceived us even more.” By saying this, he makes the argument that our senses are deceiving us. What we once thought existed, might not actually exist. For example, if were were to hold a pencil, who is to say that the pencil actually exists? Descartes questions the existence of the pencil, our hands that hold the pencil, and ultimately, our own body that contains our hands.
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381 Words | 2 PagesToday, the Meditations one of the most popular works of Descartes’s but that was always the case it was many points that were controversial. He began writing the Meditations In 1639 and finished 1641. Descartes was born on March 31, 1596. He would be the set the groundwork for modern science and overthrowing a system of natural philosophy that had been standing for centuries.
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