Meditations 1 & 2

philosophy

love of wisdom

History of Philosophy

Started off as a vast term, was shrunken down

Branches of philosophy

Metaphysics - Study of reality

Epistemology - Study of Knowledge (Descartes)

Ethics - Study of Morality

Method of Doubt

Treat anything as false that brings any doubt to your mind

Grounds for Doubt

1. Deceptive Senses

2. Madness

3. Dreaming

4. Evil Deceiver

My Perception vs. External World

1. Mental vs physical

2. Subjective vs Objective

3. Known Directly/immediately vs knowable only indirectly

4. Known indubitably vs dubitable or fallible

cogito ergo sum

I think therefore I am

Descartes conclusion of what he is

A thinking thing

mind-body dualism

the philosophical viewpoint that mind and body are separate entities that do not interaction. Mind is also different than your brain. It is more a soul.

Arguments for Dualism

1. Can doubt physical body, can't doubt mind

2. Minds & bodies are differently known

3. No matter how much complexity you put in a body, it's still just a dumb thing

Difficulty of dualism

How can such different things interact?

How can it be compatible with science/the material world

2nd Meditation ending conclusions

~ Seems impossible to know material things or other minds

~ Stuck in an egocentric predicament (only sure of your mind)

Importance of Descartes

Not in his answers, the questions he asks and posses are.

Descartes' strategy

Tries to figure out how to know anything — he uses doubt.

Role of god

Starts to question if god is playing tricks on him, but backtracks because he doesn't want to be excommunicated

Dream strategy

"This could all be a dream"

Wax strategy

Thinks he knows what wax looks like, but it changes in front of his eyes.

Epistemology

study of knowledge

Extension

There is a mind, everything that the mind interacts with and thinks it knows is an extension.

Is Descartes approach (extreme doubt) the only way to approach this?

Other approach — what's simple, what Makes the most sense, what's practical? This is the opposite of Descartes.

Pragmatic philosophers —

- Only think I can know is through my senses

Many possibilities of philosophy

Depends on the framework through which you set this up

Skeptic

one who doubts