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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 5 page paper which examines the role of doubt by considering sense doubt, dream doubt and demon doubt to determine their differences and what each leaves untouched. Also considered is how Descartes can be certain he exists and is thinking and not that he is being deceived by an evil demon. No additional sources are used.
Page Count:
5 pages (~225 words per page)
File: TG15_TGdoubt.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
questioned not simply how to know the difference between appearances and reality, but wanted to know if any reality was possible that was not somehow altered by the perceptions of
the mind. With his Meditations I, Descartes took on the conventional philosophical establishment by casting a shadow of doubt over supposedly enlightened (and, at that time universally accepted) conclusions.
He was paving the way for future philosophers like David Hume to develop a school of skepticism, which took a decidedly cynical view of all rational thought. Descartes
was the first to open up everything to careful scrutiny; there were no intellectual sacred cows. He devised a method of inquiry, which has become known as either Cartesian
doubt or "method of systematic doubt," which was comprised of sense doubt, dream doubt and demon doubt. This was Descartes way of distinguishing between real and unreal, or perhaps
more to the point, was an attempt to determine if there was any distinction at all between real and unreal, or if they were one and the same. Descartes
"Meditator" acknowledges that everything he knows has been ascertained through his senses. He admits, "I have accepted as possessed of the highest truth and certainty I have learned either
from the senses or through the senses" (Descartes 29). But he is quick to note that he has occasionally found these senses "to be deceptive" (29) and "sometimes deceive
us regarding minute objects, or such as are at a great distance from us" (29). But sensory messages have conveyed to him that he was sitting by the fire,
wearing a dressing gown and clutching a paper in his hands. Yet, there is a nagging doubt he is unable to shake which makes him question whether or not
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