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Rene Descartes: A Huge Figure In Early Science And Philosophy

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Francis Bacon and Rene Descartes are huge figures in early science and philosophy. Bacon is considered the father of empiricism, or the theory that knowledge comes solely from human sensory experiences; and Descartes practice strict rationalism. Combined, these two approaches form the modern scientific method. These contemporaries published numerous works on a variety of topics, from moral philosophy to natural science. One subject they covered during their careers is the ideal method for humanity to attain knowledge. Bacon and Descartes begin their arguments with similar beliefs but go on to make clear in their writings that they have very different ideas of what that ideal method looks like. Naturally, there are also various strengths …show more content…

After rejecting “the old ways,” is it better to see the world and make theories regarding it via observation or deduction? Both have strong arguments for their cases. Let us begin by examining Bacon. One of his biggest strengths is his acknowledgement of the fallibilities of human sensory and processing mechanisms when he writes about the Idols of the Mind. Human nature itself, personal bias, the opinions of other people, and a surrounding culture cloud sensory input and give people false notions. Yet Bacon believes this nature can be altered to create the most understanding of the world possible for people. As he says, “I also assert that not much can be known in nature by the way which is now in use. But then they go on to destroy the authority of the senses and understanding; whereas I proceed to devise and supply helps for the same” (Matthews, 48). His argument for using experiments to support philosophy is a good middle-ground approach. Descartes, by contrast, does not discuss these fallibilities of thought and assumes his thoughts are not flawed, perhaps due to his reliance on math and physics. This is a weakness in his arguments. However, he also has a stronger logical basis for his claims. Deductive reasoning has survived so long in geometry classrooms and philosophical discussions for a reason: it is very difficult to

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This basis in the belief of nature shapes Locke’s and Rousseau’s beliefs regarding learning, dependency, social interaction, and living when exploring the human condition. Locke and Rousseau’s definition of nature influences their

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René Descartes and George Berkeley were the pioneers of 17th century philosophy, especially in the realm of metaphysics, the study of what is real. Descartes’s Meditations on First Philosophy were responsible for creating this novel idea of Cartesian Duality. This form of duality proposes that the mind controls the body, but that the body can also influence the otherwise rational mind, such as when people act out of passion. Passion, for instance, would be what Descartes considers a mode of thought. Modes are specifications relating to properties in the ordinary sense, while attributes are the components of what makes a substance what it is.

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Descartes: Meditations on First Philosophy Descartes Meditations are intended to show God through logical reasoning. At the beginning of the book he says, “I have always thought that two issues - namely, God and the soul are chief among those that ought to be demonstrated with the aid of philosophy rather than theology.” Therefore, it can be said that Descartes is seeking the “truth” of things trough reasoning.

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In Descartes’s Meditations on First Philosophy, he states numerous concepts, so he uses many arguments to support his interpretations of the world and point of views. Descartes is searching for certainty on various subjects; he wants to discover the truth. Does God exist (p.66)? What is a conscious being (p.69)? Is a soul and a body separate things (p.69)?

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Hay II Professor of Philosophy at the University of Wisconsin, with a Ph.D in philosophy from Columbia University, and is devoted to studying the philosophy of the seventeenth century—and in particular, the works of René Descartes. In this book, Steven Nadler provides a fascinating portal into Descartes’ life and skilfully presents an introduction to Descartes’ philosophical and scientific ideas. Nadler argues that, although Descartes’ work has been extensively criticized, his thoughts came to dominate the philosophical world, at the time, and can be called the “philosophy of the seventeenth century”. Overall, the source did not seem too biased—Nadler simply provides a biography of René Descartes and thoroughly writes of his ideas and story. The author appeals to a wide audience, due to its simple vocabulary, and it is an extremely helpful source for those who wish to uncover the life of the famous

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In the Meditations, Rene Descartes attempts to develop stable foundations for knowledge. Descartes wants to break down the unstable and uncertain foundations that all his current knowledge is based on, in order to discover truth or certainty. Descartes argues that everything can be doubted, including all knowledge from the senses, and even simple mathematical principles, yet he searches for certainty in knowledge. However, Descartes does not provide a clear map for recognizing and achieving certainty, or even give sufficient reasons to believe the possible existence of absolute certainty in knowledge. Descartes argues that all knowledge from the senses can be questioned or doubted, since his senses have often deceived him.

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In order for Descartes to begin building a solid foundation, where upon he can decisively decide whether if God exists, he must first make two clear distinctions, or goals: One; The inherent source of human knowledge is in the mind. Two; science and religion are to be compatible with one another if the outcome of God’s existence is to be proven true. From there he begins to break down the thought process into ‘Meditations’ and then begins to break down what can be called into doubt. He starts off by stating his ‘Methodological Doubt’ process, in which he inherently breaks down to the very fundamentals of human thought and begins to rebuild his assumptions based on known assertions.

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René Descartes was a French philosopher, mathematician and writer and was considered as the “father of philosophy,” whom strengthened his basic and fundamental role in abstract thinking with his popular work, “Meditations of First Philosophy.” In this particular piece of work, Descartes ignored all he believed to be true and began to doubted all information, knowledge, or truths that are based on his senses. Descartes tested his “Dreaming Doubt,” where he stated that based on senses alone, there is no definite way of proving that you are awake or dreaming, therefore, any truths based on the senses are unreliable and untrue. He then added supporting materials to his claim to figure why and how his senses were deceiveable through abstracted logical reasoning.

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Descartes is the greater skeptic of the two philosophers because he bases his pursuit of knowledge solely on his own

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In Humean approach, these questions are central in order to understand both the important role of human psychology, the constitution of social relations and the formation of society. We can claim that Hume’s central concern is man, so that’s why the foundation of morality occupies an important place in Humean philosophy. As Hume suggested, “as the science of man is the only solid foundation for the other sciences, so the only solid foundation we can give to this science itself must be laid on experience and observation” (T, 6). According to Hume, experimental approach based on experience provides us to reach “to the study of human nature and his theory of mental faculties” (EHU, 11). To him, the collection and comparison of experiments gained through observation of human life provide to a philosopher more accurate human comprehension (T,

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Cartesian Descartes, known to be first great philosopher of the modern era, came up with a system to guide his inquiries called the Cartesian Method. Cartesian Descartes began his work as a French mathematician. He agrees with the theories of Plato and early theologian about the important of reason (SUO 2016). Although he agreed with Plato and other early theologians he found their world to have unstable foundation which led him to begin his own work and projects. To begin his own world Descartes based on the idea that, “we may not know anything at all with any certainty”.

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Rene Descartes, a French philosopher born in 1596, was often considered “the father of modern philosophy.” Through “The Meditations”, Descartes takes us on a journey to discover the basis of all our knowledge claims by questioning what is knowledge, where it originated from, and how we can justify it. In his writing, Descartes doubts the existence of an external world by discussing several sources which caused him to develop this radical skepticism. With total neglect of all knowledge and existence, he creates his own theory of knowledge by questioning the nature of it, its extent, as well as its validity. Descartes starts on the basis that scientific knowledge to Descartes comes from the mind and not from our senses.

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To be apart of these ideas however, conditions needed to be met. These were that the ideas must be clear and distinct to be trustworthy. Descartes, on his internal thought journey came to the conclusion that he could prove the existence of God, based on reason. Descartes obeys the reasoning; because there is an idea of God in his mind, he then could define God (without prior knowing such thing exists).

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Rene Descartes was one the famous French philosopher of his era, he was also known as the father of modern philosophy. In addition, his ideas or theories are also considered to change the age of science during that era. The ideas or the phenomena’s he has presented in his writing are still considered as the stepping stone for the modern science. First of all, one of the basic ideas which Rene Descartes has presented was the idea of skepticism. According to him, through the phenomena of the skepticism, any truth can be verified by the theory of it.

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