Descartes s Theory Of Skepticism, The Evil Demon, And God

Explain and evaluate Rene Descartes argument for knowledge including the role of skepticism, the evil demon, and god in resolving his doubts. Rene Descartes argues that a rational method is required to have knowledge. Descartes wants to determine which, if any beliefs, he has that are certain must be true! He employs a method of doubt whereby he hopes to find at least one foundational belief. The Evil Demon suggests that all of one’s experiences might be the result of a powerful outside force, a â€Å"Malicious demon†. Descartes had 3 types of beliefs: Beliefs about the world- Optical illusions, Beliefs about self- Dreaming and Beliefs about Math/Science- Evil Demon. He employs a method of doubt whereby he arrives at his one foundational belief. The evil demon can trick you into belief. According to Descartes a being cannot have knowledge of a being higher of the scale, unless the higher being imparts that knowledge to him. His limited intellect could never hope to comp rehend God unless God imparted the Knowledge. Since Descartes has a clear and distinct notion of God, God must exist. Since God exists and all is good, all of Descartes previous doubts were washed away. God would not allow an evil being to deceive us. 2. Explain and evaluate Thomas Hobbes view that all objects are material, including thoughts, feelings and ideas. The only thing that exists are â€Å"bodies in motion†. According to Hobbes, thoughts, ideas and feelings are physical entities explained by motions in theShow MoreRelatedDescartes s Theory Of Knowledge1834 Words   |  8 PagesDescartes theorized that in order to acquire knowledge, there essentially is some rational technique for attaining it, and that the expenditure of the senses, or any other individual capability was not a dependable basis. In his third meditation he says, â€Å"I know that even bodies are not perceived by the senses, or by the faculty of imagination, but by the intellect alone (69). As a rationalist Descartes supposed that this withstood identically for everyone, that all people have rational learned conceptsRead MorePhilosophy C100 Quiz 121572 Words   |  7 Pagesphilosophical question:    | Is there a God? |    | Does the end justify the means? |    | What form of government is best? |    | What is Time? |   X | All of the above. | 3.   An argument is a reason for accepting a position.    X | True |    | False | 4.    The area of philosophy concerned with values includes    | Ethics |    | Aesthetics |    | Social/political philosophy |   X | All of the above |    | None of the above | 5.    Trying to argue that God exists because it says so in theRead MoreAn Explanation Of An Argument Against The Absurdity Of Thinking Essay2369 Words   |  10 Pagesholds no weight as to the validity of said premise, showing that we must provide some type of justification, whether proven or otherwise to defend our opinions and conclude value for arguments. To accept this rationale would equate to accepting skepticism across all epistemic philosophical questioning, thus questioning any and all previous, current and future shared information. The reliability of sources in the context of Comment [JB1]: You need a title Comment [JB2]: Each of these sentencesRead MoreLogical Reasoning189930 Words   |  760 Pagesindicator words. You cannot rely on if to indicate a premise. Here is why. In argument A below, the word if is followed by a premise, but in argument B it is part of the conclusion. A. If, as we know, all men are mortal and Jeremiah is a man, not a god, then he is mortal, too. B. If a mercury thermometer is given prolonged heating, it will break. This is because prolonged heating will cause the mercury to expand a great deal. But the thermometer will break apart whenever the mercury expands this