Week 2: Descartes & Rationality

What was Descartes’ goal?

write comprehensive theory

What did Descartes aim to unite?

• chemistry

• biology

• physics

• astronomy

• physiology

What did Descartes write?

Discourse on Method

What did Descartes believe about animals?

= machines

• no consciousness

What was Descartes’ reason for his animal belief?

church believed in animal soul → overpopulate heaven

What did Descartes wonder about a hypothetical machine?

what if one could build human-like machine?

What did Descartes conclude about a hypothetical machine?

one could build animal-like machine

What did Descartes believe about building a human machine?

ways to tell that it isn’t real

• only humans use language

• machines don’t act through knowledge but through disposition

What was Descartes’ reason for believing only humans use language?

• only humans have ability to put together endless sentence variety & respond to others

What was Descartes’ reason for believing machines act through disposition?

human reason = universal problem-solver

v.s.

animal & machine = limited by hardware

What did Cartesians do to animals?

live experiment

What did Descartes believe about animal language?

if animals had language, could translate to humans

What does Descartes believe about mind & matter?

mind’s created by creator, ≠ matter

What was Descartes’ knowledge goal?

find foundation

What was Descartes’ universal science method?

1. demolition job

2. analysis

3. synthesis

4. review

What is a demolition job?

watch for…

• jargon

• pre-judgement

• secondhand opinion

What is analysis, according to Descartes?

break question into components

What is synthesis, according to Descartes?

build components upwards

What is review, according to Descartes?

ensure nothing left out of prior steps

What is metaphysics?

basic reality structure study

What is epistemology?

knowledge & perception study

What does Descartes parallel to a tree?

knowledge

• trunk = physics

• branches = biology & chemistry & meteorology & astronomy

• roots = philosophy

  • tap root = ‘I think, therefore I am’

What did Descartes have to do to get to the tap root?

demolition job

What parallels a demolition job?

4 tsunami waves

What was Descartes’ reason for demolition jobs?

saw false opinions taken true

What is methodical doubt?

skepticism tool

What was Descartes’ response to his 1st caveat?

holds many opinions SO attacks general principles that underlie beliefs so all crumble

What are some general principle examples?

• real senses

• real world

• worth life

What does Descartes conclude about senses?

1. don’t trust senses
   immediate sensation

2. dream argument
   belief based on sense

3. matrix math
   certainties & simple universals

4. epistemic skepticism
   evil demon

What is the dream argument?

• can’t deny body is oneself

• BUT has lifelike dreams

• SO how does one know one’s real?

What does Descartes conclude about human dreams & bodies?

dreams = lifelike images produced by simple universals

What is a simple universal?

basic reality furniture

What are some simple universal examples?

• colour

• sound

• shape

• size

• object

• event

• number

• place

• time

• light

What is an extension, according to Descartes?

anything taking space

What does Descartes conclude about simple universals?

• god could make systematic lie

• BUT for reason

What did Descartes believe happen after death?

access reality & god

What is an evil demon, according to Descartes?

powerful being whose job is to fool

What does Descartes approach after the last demolition job wave?

epistemic skepticism

What is epistemic skepticism?

worst nihilism

What was Descartes’ response to the evil demon?

nothingness can’t think → “I think, therefore I am”

What is a body, according to Descartes?

extension

What does Descartes conclude about thinking?

when one stops thinking, one stops existing

What does Descartes conclude about humans?

essence = thinking

What are ways to be?

• material form

• thought form

What is an essence?

timeless blueprint

• if one destroys essence, destroys thing

What is a geometric object’s essence?

n-sided enclosed figures with internal angles adding up to x degrees

What does Jean-Paul Sartre conclude about humans?

no essence

What was a possible refutal to Descartes’ human conclusion?

thinkerless thoughts

What was Descartes’ response to the possible refutal about human conclusion?

thought belongs to someone

What is a substance?

unchanging thing supporting property

What does Descartes conclude about brain & mind?

different ways of being

What does Descartes use to describe one’s being?

What was Descartes’ response to his human conclusion?

alone with demon

What was Descartes’ goal in response to his human conclusion?

prove god exists

What is a god, according to Descartes?

being

• infinite

• perfect

• supreme

• omniscient

• omnipotent

• no moral / person characteristics

What does Descartes conclude about humans in relation to gods?

trademark argument

What is the trademark argument?

humans have god concept

What is innatism?

mind comes with concepts

What was a possible refutal to innatism?

atheism

What was Descartes’ response to innatism refusal?

senses swamp → cover innate concepts

What was Descartes’ innatism argument?

1. inventories ideas

2. ‘something doesn’t come from nothing’

3. SO concepts come from somewhere

4. SO one could not invent god concept

What does Descartes conclude about innatism?

humans have god concept but can’t comprehend god

What does Descartes use to parallel innatism?

chiliagon

• have concept but can’t visualize

What is a chiliagon?

1000-sided object

What does Descartes conclude about god & senses?

• benevolent

coexisting…

• external world

• thought

• minds

What is Descartes’ stance on the mind-body problem?

mind-body dualist

• substance interactionist dualist

What is a substance interactionist dualist?

mutually exclusive mind & body

• mind essence: think

v.s.

• body essence: extend

mind event ↔ body event

£ mind

What was Descartes’ argument for substance interactionist dualism?

• doubt argument

can doubt senses but can think → mind can exist without body

• divisibility

divisible body v.s. invisible mind, can have sets of wants

What does substance interactionist dualism claim about the mind?

not science

What does Descartes believe about a mind in a machine?

mind = ghost

What is Spinoza’s mind-body problem stance?

substance monist

What is a substance monist?

reality’s made of 1 substance

What do substance monists believe comprises reality?

god or nature