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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A paper which gives an overview of Descartes' Meditiations, with particular reference to his distinction between objective and formal reality, and the way in which he proves the existence of God. Bibliography lists 2 sources.
Page Count:
4 pages (~225 words per page)
File: JL5_JLfirstphil.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
are set out in a logical progression, so that the reader can follow Descartes line of reasoning and understand how one element follows from the next.
In the first meditation, he sets out a formula for dispensing with all
his preconceived ideas, since he has already become aware that much he thought was true has turned out to be false. He therefore resolves to sweep away prior knowledge, and
start from only what he knows to be true. He understands that sensory impressions can be deceptive, since hallucinations and dreams can appear real, and therefore he will not trust
sensory impressions alone as having innate truth. If he is to ascertain what truth consists of, then it is necessary to eliminate anything about which there is doubt.
The one thing which he finds cannot be doubted is the
fact of his own existence: if thought and doubt exist, which evidently they do even if no sensory input is taking place, then someone must be performing these functions of
doubt and thought. If he thinks, then he exists: at least, his mind exists, since what he knows of his body is dependent, again, on sensory impressions. He then turns
his attention to the existence of God and asserts that it is not possible for human beings such as he to create God, since God is perfection and human beings
are not. He contemplates the idea that God might be responsible for deceiving him, since a perfect being would have the power to do so, but decides that perfection, by
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