Class Synopsis from Friday February 25

Olivia Tucker

Intro to Philosophy

Class Synopsis Paper

2/27/11

On Friday February 25, 2011 we discussed Descartes’ meditations. First we reviewed the primary ways to describe matter and mind. Matter can be described as an extension in space while mind is thought. Then we went straight into Decartes’ use of methodological doubt. He uses this method to systematically doubt the testimony of senses. Descartes has six meditations but in this class we only focuses on the first two. In the first meditation Descartes calls the senses into doubt. He claims the senses deceive humans through perspective, madness and dreams. Perspective deceives humans by making things look different from far away and up close. Madness can make someone’s senses no longer authentic. If someone is mad then they are away from reality and their senses cannot be trusted. Dreams can trick people into believing that what is going on in their dreams are real when in fact it is not real at all, this is deception. Since dreams do deceive humans this way Descartes says that we could all be living a dream and just not be aware of it. Descartes also brings up the idea that God is a malicious being that is only playing a game with our existence, that everything around us is not real. Second meditation is Descartes’ idea that the only “I” that exists is the human soul, not the body. The human soul is the only thing that cannot be doubted. Our ability to doubt and think is the only proof that we do legitimately exist. The fact that humans are aware of their existence proves their existence. There are also seven modes of thinking: doubting, understanding, affirmation, denial, will (desire), imagining and sensing.