Descartes Meditations Essay

Meditation: 1. of the things which may be brought within the sphere of the doubtful.

The main point of this Meditation is to introduce the method of doubt, I mean methodological skepticism. Descartes feels that the best way to reach clear and distinct knowledge is to begin by doubting the evidence of the senses. He believes that there exists an external world including other people and own body. I agree about the external world, and have some feelings about it, but I do not think that doubt is the best way in reaching clear knowledge and solving the problems. I think it is right that just before the Meditation begins, Descartes gives synopsis summarizing the main points of each. He says that ‘in the first Meditation I set forth the reasons for which we may, generally speaking, doubt about all things and especially about material things’ (Descartes). What else I find convenient that he begins each Meditation with a summarizing sentence, which helps me to get a better understanding about the context in a whole.

I find three arguments in favor of his methodological skepticism. The first one is about senses that sometimes deceive, and I absolutely agree with this statement. The second one is dreaming argument; Descartes sits by the fire with a paper in his hand and reflects that sometimes he dreams he is doing this when he is asleep in bed. How does he know that he is not dreaming? He cannot be sure. Also I cannot be sure at any time that I am really awake rather than dreaming. I think that the fire, the paper, his hand may all be figments of his imagination. I agree that weather awake and asleep I am not deceived as to truths of logic. The last argument is about an evil genius. An evil genius with godlike power could be controlling our minds so that heavens and the earth in them are illusions.

Meditation: 2. Of the Nature of the Human Mind and that it is more easily known than the Body                                   

 The second meditation continues Descartes’ search for one thing that he can be certain of, even if it turns out to be the fact that he cannot be certain of anything. Descartes turns inwards towards the mind itself in search of certainty by rejecting sense of experience as a source of reliable information. According to this, I find the fact that even if my perception is false, I can be sure of my existence, for in order to be deceived I must at least exist. Descartes says that he is a thinking think. For me, this fact turns out to be really thoughtful.

Second meditation based on the negative outcome of preceding examination by turning the doubt into a proof of absolutely certainty. This process, known for me as the cotigo, is based on the connection between consciousness and existence, and I think it is right statement. I cannot be aware that I do not exist. I agree that my mind is strictly distinct from my body. If think deeply, the mind is known better, more distinct and before the body.               Analyzing the second meditation, I understand that I cannot find what the nature of physical things without engaging my intellection. On the other hand, I can something about the nature of the mind by means of examining how I get to know physical objects. But I think that the nature of the mind is not understood through the character of its objects, but rather through its ability to produce representations of structural complexity that cannot have their origin in sensation and imagination.

I cannot make any exact conclusions about existence from my images or sensations. Nevertheless, I exactly know my substance through my mind and my body, my senses, imaginations, and thinking.

Meditation: 3. Of God: that He exists.

No proof of the existence of God is widely accepted today, and the search for such proof is no longer a hot philosophical analysis. While there is disagreement over whether or not God exists and what God’s nature is, I agree that God’s existence cannot be proved through a feat of the mind.

My opinion is that I live in an age which is skeptical of the whole enterprise of giving proofs from the existence of God. I believe that if it were possible to prove that God exists, what one would need faith for. The third Meditation helps me to analyze the elements of Descartes’ proof into simpler parts and I try to provide some explanations of how those work. Third Meditation also helps me to understand philosophy which Descartes puts to other important uses in others Meditations. At the beginning of this Meditation I feel that Descartes makes some progress. He is going to prove that God exists and is not a deceiver. It seems to me that Descartes wants to escape the problems involved in clear perceptions by relying on God’s existence to make them true.

The discussion of the theory of ideas is an introduction to Descartes’ attempts to prove the existence of God. I agree with Descartes that ideas are the atoms of thought, and all thought is made up of composite ideas. Some ideas are ideas in the strict sense only, while others are ideas in the strict sense as well as something else. It can be emotion or judgment, I notice that Descartes is particularly interested in judgment, because this is the things people can be wrong about, and he wishes to identify the source of error in order to identify the source of doubt. I absolutely agree with him here. I believe that often I assume I perceive things outside my mind without any degree of certainty or justification.

Meditations: 4, 5, 6.

In the last three Meditations, Descartes defends many thoughtful claims with interesting arguments. While reading these meditations I define the four main points: the problem of error (if God is not a deceiver, why do I sometimes form mistaken beliefs), the existence of the material world (if bodies exist, and how can I know), the nature of the material world (what are bodies like), mind and body (are mind and body distinct, and if so what is the relationship).

At the beginning of the fourth Meditation, Descartes makes some observations about ‘for if everything that is in me I got from God, and he gave me no faculty for making mistakes, it seems I am incapable of ever erring’. My answer is that God has not given him any mental faculties that inevitably lead him to believe falsehood. His errors are all attributable to his own will, and not to God. So the fact that he sometimes errs does not imply that God is a deceiver.

The fifth Meditation turns my attention toward material objects. Rather than inquire into the things themselves, Descartes inquires into ideas regarding material things. I admit that he can distinctly imagine size, shape, position, local motion, which is associated with duration. I find this Meditation deals with two things: the nature of the physical world and another argument for the existence of God. I conclude reading this meditation by realizing that the ideas which exist in Descartes’ mind suggest that physical reality exists. Then he considers possible sources for these ideas. I absolutely agree with Descartes’ idea that the existence of God is necessary, because for him not to exist would be a contradiction in terms.

I find the fact that all absolute knowledge relies on knowledge of God is really thoughtful, because he is not a deceiver, and so I can trust my clean perceptions.In the Sixth Meditation, Descartes defends what we will call the Rule of Some Truth. Descartes argues that his mind is “really distinct” from his body. By “really distinct”, Descartes means that they are distinct things. Since he has identified himself with his mind, this means that he is distinct from his body.  In conclusion to everything that was said before, Meditations on the first philosophy in which the existence of God and the distinction between mind and body are demonstrated are an essential food for everyone’s thought.

 

Works Cited

Descartes, R., Meditations on First Philosophy. Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 1996.  File of the 1911edition of the Philosophical Works of Descartes.  Cambridge University Press,   translated by Elizabeth S. Haldane. Print.

The terms offer and acceptance. (2016, May 17). Retrieved from

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[Accessed: March 29, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]
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