Intro to Philosophy Journal 2
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Intro-Descartes.pptIntroductory Points on Descartes
Comments and points on early modern philosophy and on Descartes
René Descartes (1596 – 1650)
- Mathematician, scientist, philosopher
- Impact of scientific revolution on Descartes (philosophy)
- Emphasis on certainty (fundamental principles of knowledge and reality)
- Influence of the scientific method on Descartes
- Mechanistic idea of universe
- Studying the natural (material) universe through mathematics, geometry
Descartes’s ‘method’
- 4 ‘rules’ for the direction of the intellect:
- Avoid making rash assumptions and drawing hasty conclusions
- Clear and distinct ideas
- Analysis: breaking complex problems down into smaller and simpler ones
- Moving from ‘the simple’ to more complex conclusions and insights
- Completeness and comprehensive review
Thinking and representations
- Descartes accepts the representational theory of the mind. A few key assumptions:
- We have access to the world through our ideas about the world
- Ideas are representations, and include perceptions, images, memories, etc.
- Representations are normally meant to represent real things external to the mind.
- Do they? To what extent? How about when they are false representations?
