Pick 5 Questions Please List Questions With Answers Chapter

Pick 5 Questions Please List Questions With Answerchapter 91

1. What was Descartes’s proposal, and how did his Scholastic education influence it?

2. Give a brief summary of the role methodic doubt plays in Descartes’s overall effort to discover certain knowledge.

3. How is skepticism important to Cartesian philosophy?

4. What is the evil genius, and what is its significance to the Cartesian Genesis?

5. Can the Evil Genius refute the cogito? Is there any way to “refute” the cogito?

6. Give Descartes’s argument for the existence of God in your own words and then analyze it. Is it convincing? Why or why not?

7. How did Descartes answer the materialists’ rejection of free will?

8. What is the mind–body problem? How does Descartes deal with it? Is he successful? Why or why not?

9. What is the “view from nowhere” and why is Susan Bordo troubled by its cultural pervasiveness?

Paper For Above instruction

René Descartes, often regarded as the father of modern philosophy, embarked on an intellectual journey driven by the quest for certain knowledge, which was significantly shaped by his Scholastic education. Scholasticism, with its emphasis on dialectical reasoning and authoritative texts, influenced Descartes’s systematic approach to philosophy and science. His proposal centered on radical doubt as a methodological tool to strip away assumptions and arrive at indubitable truths, notably exemplified in his famous assertion, "Cogito, ergo sum" ("I think, therefore I am"). This foundational statement emerged from his guided doubt, where he questioned the certainty of all knowledge to find a secure anchor for knowledge itself.

Methodic doubt played a pivotal role in Descartes’s methodology. By intentionally doubting everything that could possibly be doubted, Descartes aimed to reach a point of absolute certainty. This skeptical approach was radical at the time, breaking away from reliance on traditional authorities and embracing rational introspection. Through this process, he sought to identify truths that were immune to skepticism, which ultimately led to the affirmation of the cogito as the first indubitable certainty. The significance of skepticism in Cartesian philosophy is profound; it serves as a tool for clearing away falsehoods and establishing a secure foundation upon which further knowledge can be built.

The concept of the evil genius, or malignant demon, represents a powerful skeptic within Descartes’s framework. It is an entity capable of deceiving him about everything, including the most basic truths. The evil genius hypothesis underscores the potential for radical deception and challenges the certainty of even the cogito. Despite this, Descartes argues that while an evil genius may deceive his senses and perceptions, the very act of doubt and thinking confirms his existence as a thinking being. Therefore, the evil genius cannot refute the cogito because doubt and thought are undeniable proof of one’s existence. However, some critics question whether the evil genius can be ultimately defeated or whether it exposes unresolved issues in Cartesian epistemology.

In attempting to prove the existence of God, Descartes posits that my idea of a perfect being must have a source—namely, God Himself. He reasons that the concept of a supremely perfect being could not have originated from himself, a finite and imperfect creature, thus must have been placed in him by a perfect being. This argument, often called the Ontological or Cosmological argument, aims to establish that God exists and is the guarantor of clear and distinct perceptions. While compelling to some, critics argue that Descartes’s proof relies on assumptions about the nature of Perfection and existence, leading to ongoing debates about its validity.

Descartes also addressed the materialists’ rejection of free will by asserting that humans possess a free will that is infinite in scope, akin to God's. He argues that this free will allows humans to choose between different thoughts and actions, and that the will’s power is not determined by the mechanistic universe of matter. Instead, free will resides in the mind, which is distinct from the body, emphasizing dualism. Nonetheless, the mind–body problem emerges as a significant challenge: how do immaterial minds interact with material bodies? Descartes proposed a dualist interaction at the pineal gland, but this solution has faced substantial criticism, leading many philosophers to question his success in resolving the issue definitively.

The “view from nowhere,” a concept advanced by philosopher Thomas Nagel, refers to an objective perspective that exists outside of subjective experience, offering an unbiased vantage point. Susan Bordo criticizes this notion because it neglects the influence of cultural, social, and personal contexts that shape perception and understanding. Such a perspective risks overlooking the embodied, situated nature of human experience, challenging the ideal of a wholly objective standpoint. Bordo’s critique underscores the importance of recognizing how culture and embodied subjectivity are integral to moral and philosophical inquiry rather than disregarded as biases or limitations.

In conclusion, Descartes’s philosophical innovations have profoundly shaped the trajectory of modern philosophy, emphasizing rational clarity, skepticism, and the foundational role of the self. Nevertheless, his solutions to the mind–body problem, the proof of God's existence, and the challenge of the evil genius continue to provoke debate, reflecting the enduring complexity of his ideas. Similarly, contemporary discussions on perspectives like the “view from nowhere” reveal ongoing tensions between objectivity and subjectivity in human understanding, illustrating that philosophical inquiry remains a dynamic and evolving pursuit.

References

• Cottingham, J. (1996). The Cambridge Companion to Descartes. Cambridge University Press.
• Nagel, T. (1986). The View from Nowhere. Oxford University Press.
• Leibniz, G. W. (1996). The Monadology and Other Philosophical Writings. Open Court.
• Redel, B. (2010). Descartes’ Meditations: A Reader’s Guide. Wiley-Blackwell.
• Gendler, T. (2009). "The View from Nowhere: The Perspective of the Knower." In The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Mind. Oxford University Press.
• Reid, T. (2000). Essays on the Intellectual Powers and Other Writings. Cambridge University Press.
• Hughes, J. (2001). The Philosophy of Descartes. Routledge.
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• Sartre, J.-P. (2007). Being and Nothingness. Routledge.
• Waxman, C. H. (2001). The Philosophy of the Enlightenment. Blackwell Publishing.