Descartes (and Elisabeth)

what is descartes goal in his 1st mediation

to eradicate all his false beliefs by starting from scratch and building new foundations

how can descartes reach his goal

rejecting all opinions that have SOME reason for doubt; start with the foundations (basic principles) because once those crumble so do the rest of the beliefs

what can be deceitful

senses

what is the dream analogy

sense events while asleep when in reality none of that is happening; “no reliable way of distinguishing being awake from being asleep”

what is the painting analogy

“visions that come in sleep are like paintings”; images within dreams, even if fake, are like the true things; do not invent new natures in dreams; “these are the elements which we make all our mental images of things—the true and also the false ones”—even if the dream is deceptive, the content is based off true natures; thus, things such as the body (and its parts) and colors (if really do make something up that does not exist) must be true

what are the “simpler and more universal kinds” that's existence cannot be denied

body and extension; the shape of what is extended; quantity, size, and number of what is extended; the places that the extended can be in; the time that the extended can last

what does Descartes mean by extension

something that has the ability to take up space

why are physics, astronomy, and medicine doubtful

they include complex structures that our senses can deceive us about

why are arithmetic and geometry doubtless

even if dreaming, the same mathematic rules apply; “two plus three equals five, and a square has only four sides”

what must Descartes hold his assent from in addition to obvious false hoods

“former beliefs”/”familiar opinions”

descartes is distrustful only in acquiring knowledge not

in his actions

what will descartes do to stop assenting to his “former beliefs”

think them imaginary

what “former belief” does descartes stop assenting to and what does he think of instead

he stops assenting that there is a god that is “supremely good and the source of truth” (that would stop all from being deceived); instead, he thinks of the “malicious demon” who only deceives descartes and “contrives traps for [his] judgment”

what example does descartes use to place doubt on arithmetic and geometry

the “malicious, powerful, cunning demon” or “deceiver”

what might the “malicious demon” be doing

making descartes believe that he has senses or hands or eyes

why does descartes bring up archimedes

descartes wants to find his “one firm and immovable point” that he can use to build up his beliefs on

how does descartes come to believe that he exists

that fact that he has convinced himself of something (if he thinks instead of a god placing those thoughts within him) means that he exists; if can be deceived then exist/cannot say that he is nothing if he thinks he is something

what is descartes’ archedian point

that he thinks; thus, he exists (a thinking thing)

what ideas come to Descartes when asking what “I” was

having a [“the] body” (including bodily parts); having a soul that engages in “sense-PERCEPTION and thinking”

what is descartes’ understanding of a body

something with a “definite shape and position” that “can occupy space” while keeping other bodies out of that space

what is descartes amazed about regarding bodies

that human bodies can initiate movements (and sense and think) even by not being moved by another object that bumped into it

what was the “malicious demon” analogy a response to

the painting analogy as to cast doubts on basic principles such as arithmetic and geometry that the painting analogy remained true (true in dream and real life)

how does descartes debunk bodies and sense-perception

the “malicious deceiver” could have tricked him into believing that he has the features that make up a body; he needs a body in order to perceive (tough-hands, sight-eye, etc.) so if the “malicious deceiver” debunks the body then it also debunks sense-perception (and when dreaming perceptions are untrue)

what is the one thing that the “malicious deceiver” cannot separate from Descartes

thought (only exist for as long as thinking potentially)

why can’t descartes’ thoughts on what I is depend on his imagination

his knowledge cannot depend on the existence of things that he is a unaware of because then that is not a stable foundation

why is descartes against using his imagination

because imagination relates to the body which he is unsure of the existence of

why does descartes discuss imagination in the first place

he is trying to find ways to build a foundation for what I is

who are the two authors of these passages

René Descartes and Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia

what is the title of descartes’ meditations as a whole

Meditations on First Philosophy in which are demonstrate the existence of God and the distinction between the human soul and body

what is the title of descartes’ first meditation

First Meditation: on what can be called into doubt

what is the title of descartes’ second meditation

Second Meditation: The nature of the human mind, and how it is better known than the body

what is the title of the letters between descartes and Elisabeth

Correspondence between Descartes and Princess Elisabeth

what are the verbs that decartes’ “I” has

thinks which leads to doubts, understands, affirms, denies, wants, refuses, imagines (still imagine even if what imagines doesn’t truly exist), and senses; does all of these still even if does so while dreaming

what is descartes’ argument about “seeming”

even if his senses are wrong, he seems to sense them—another way of thinking (thinking about what he is seeming to sense)

what examples does descartes give to analyze how people view bodies; what is the final conclusion

a piece of wax (like was that gets turned into a wax seal): the honeycomb wax is at first hard and cold, but then it is soft and hot when by a fire; however, it is still the same wax; this conclusion is not gathered by the senses as the two forms of the wax would result in different senses; what does belong to the wax for certain, no matter what form, is that it is extendable

what idea derives from the wax analogy

judgement by perception of the mind; that this comes from the mind not from the senses (as the senses change)

why isn’t it descartes’ imagination that gives him a gasp on what the wax is (“flexible and changeable”)

bc the wax can change into more forms than Descartes can imagine; thus, the wax is not something invented by him, but instead perceived by him (not sensed because that changes)

what is descartes’ thoughts on judgement

judging (like seeming) is the reality of sense-perception, he judges based on his sense—this means that he exists even if he is deceived by his senses into making a false judgment—judgments are certain while senses are deceivable

even if it is wrong, what does the “human mind” use that is so great

perception (based of senses so not senses alone); perceiving is better than sensing because it requires a “human mind”

descartes’ establishment of the mind

thinking, perceiving, judging (malicious deceiver to wax analogy); the fact that he is perceiving the wax means that he has a mind (to do so) even if he is wrong (this then debunks the malicious demon argument)

how does Descartes say bodies are perceived in his 2nd mediation

through the “intellect” not the “senses”: perceive what bodies are through the mind as senses can change but perceptions are certain even if they are wrong

what is elisabeth’s question to descartes

how does the soul (mind/thoughts) affect the movements of the body (he kind of says so in his 2nd mediation)

how does elisabeth argue against the soul controlling the body

a thing moves by being pushed which is based on how much, the shape, the manner; these require that mover has extension as an immaterial thing cannot touch anything else

what does elisabeth say human souls existing without thinking

someone who is sick exists but is not thinking, still moving (don’t need thoughts to breathe/move)

what are descartes’ notions of forming other knowledge (like the foundations) in the correspondence

being, number, and duration that apply to everything that is conceived; extension that includes shape and movement; thought which includes perception; their union which is the soul’s power to move the body and the body’s power to initiate passions for the soul; must think of these notions separately from each other because they are basic (they are the foundation)

basic notions sticking to basic notions

cannot explain how the soul moves the body by explaining how a body moves a body

what is descartes’ rock analogy and how do we know this

weight is a notion for how the soul moves the body; we know that the rock is not being pushed down by a material object; we know this from our own inner experience

what is elisabeth confused about after descartes’ 1st letter

how does the rock/weight analogy mean that the soul moves the body

what would elisabeth rather concede to the soul than an immaterial moving a body

concede extension (and matter) to the soul

what is the soul only conceived by

“pure intellect”; in the correspondence this is clarified

when does descartes say that knowledge is much better than

when the intellect is aided by imagination

what do people who use their senses think about the movement of the body

that the soul moves the body because they regard them as a union (rather than using the intellect to figure this out)

what does metaphysical thoughts vs the study of mathematics say about the soul and body

metaphysical uses the intellect to familiarize with the notion of the soul while mathematics uses the imagination to familiarize with the notion of the body

what does descartes say teaches us about the union between the soul and the body

“ordinary course of life” (with the senses, why they have a clear notion)

what does descartes say the human mind cannot conceive

the souls distinctness from the body and its union with the body because you have to conceive them as different and the same at the same time

what is descartes’ response to elisabeth’s remark on conceding exertion to the soul

that she can attribute this “extension and matter” to the soul if it is easier to imagine

what does descartes want a balance between

understanding/thinking of metaphysics and imagination/senses (not only focusing on one)

what question does elisabeth still want descartes to answer

how the soul moves the body even if the senses show her that it does so

what are some qualities of bodies and what does Descartes say about them

weight and heat; confused the soul acting on the body to bodies acting on other bodies (what this is)

what have we applied to the “qualities” or “substances” of the body when trying to understand them

sometimes notions of the soul and sometimes notions of the body depending on if the quality is immaterial or material

what does Elisabeth argue about the rock analogy

that weight is not a real, material quality

according to descartes, is the soul extended

no