Descartes then recognizes that everything he knows, he has come to know through the senses. ... Descartes asserts, "When I think this matter over more carefully I see so clearly that waking can never be distinguished from sleep by any conclusive indications that I am stupefied (Descartes 14).... Descartes describes these universal aspects as "bodily nature in general, and its extension; likewise the shape of extended things and their quantity (magnitude and number); likewise the place in which they exist, the time during which they exist, and suchlike (Descartes 15).... Descartes pr...

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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

"Rene Descartes" Rene Descartes was born on March 31, 1596 in La Haye, France. ... Descartes starts by looking at our usual sources for truth. ... Descartes knows that he is not just a body based on his doubt of the senses. ... Descartes articulates this belief in the statement, "I"m aware that I"m aware." ... Descartes' focus in Meditations is absolute certainty. ...

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• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Rene Descartes' avowal, "I think therefore I am- elicits questions about the meaning of thought, the effect of existence and most fundamentally, in what sense he can be certain; what can Descartes leave un-doubted? ... Descartes' endeavor to attain certainty can be evaluated in relation to how well Descartes has overcome the universal doubt he has introduced in his first meditation. ... Prior to examining Descartes' assertion that he is thinking, the problem of what Descartes means by thinking should be answered. ... To go back to the subject of how Descartes can be certain th...

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• Grade Level: Undergraduate

It can be said that Descartes is the same as the unnamed man in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. ... Of course, not everyone is going to agree with Descartes theory. ... Descartes is known as the father of modern philosophy; Descartes" realized that one could not analyze a problem simply on the common sense level, but that he must be "prone to the micro level." ... Descartes was the first to bring philosophy to its "renaissance." ... Descartes" method and theory on knowledge was well planned and carefully thought out ...

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• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Explain and criticise Descartes" method of doubt. ... Descartes began to explore the realm of madness and dreaming. ... Descartes method of doubt fits into a long history of scepticism in philosophy. ... Descartes has often been compared and associated with Socrates in terms of their knowledge and beliefs. ... Descartes method of doubt generally meant that he didn't believe in anything except his own mind. ...

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• Grade Level: Undergraduate

In the "First Mediation", Descartes draws out the framework of his project, which is to "achieve [foundations of knowledge which] is solid and lasting". ... The basic strategy of Descartes" method of doubt is to defeat skepticism on its own ground. ... Descartes goes about using his method of doubt to cast into doubt our beliefs, which we take for granted as being true, through three arguments. ... Secondly, as reinforcement to doubting the legitimacy of our sensory perceptions, Descartes proceeds with his dream argument. ... However, this is not enough to make Descartes break his habitual pat...

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• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Unlike earlier great thinkers, Rene Descartes was the first to view psychology as a form of science in its own way. ... Descartes suggested that it was possible to perform significant tests, calculate correlations and other quantitative analysis of psychological parameters differently from disciplines like physics. Descartes incorporated the use of mathematic-like certainty principles in the determination of psychological solutions. ... Descartes said that a psychological solution is only valid if the different methods bring the same outcome. ... Descartes was the first thinker to come up wit...

• Word Count: 545
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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

On David Hume and Rene Descartes "There are more things in heaven and Earth than dreamt of in your philosophy" (Shakespeare, 211). ... In the wax example Descartes indicates that the concept of wax does not change even after it melted. ... Sciences as such geometry and mathematics are certain and indubitable for Descartes. ... It also may seem that Hume is attacking organized religion and Descartes ideas. ... Opposin Descartes, he tells about how we are ignorant to the world around us and only learn from experiences. ...

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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

The mathematician and philosopher known as Rene Descartes inspired the new method of scientific reasoning known as deductive reasoning. Descartes believed that he could only trust his own thoughts and algebra and that what he observed in the universe was only deception. ... Descartes believed that his existence was based on his ability to think and comprehend, but he never obtained the origin of the thought process. For Descartes, a thinking thing is 'a thing which doubts, understands, affirms, denies, wills, refuses, which also imagines and feels.' ...

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• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Can Descartes be certain that he is thinking? ... Williams describes this as Descartes" willingness to "sheer off " purely mental experience. ... Therefore an argument for the certainty of "I think" is that Descartes himself has made it true. ... However, Descartes himself expresses this interpretation as a profound misunderstanding of his point. ... According to Williams, Descartes does believe that there is a link between thinking and existing. ...

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• Grade Level: Undergraduate

The argument of empiricism versus rationalism, in other words one can draw on the thoughts and theories of Locke in opposition to the beliefs of Descartes. ... Locke is considered to be the founder of British empiricism, while Descartes is considered to be the father of modern philosophy. ... Unlike Descartes, Locke claimed that innate ideas were practically non-existent. ... A typical moral principle that may be considered by many, including Descartes, as an innate moral, is the belief in God or some other symbol of religion. ... Like Descartes, Locke trusts that God assures the reliability...

• Word Count: 2949
• Approx Pages: 12
• Grade Level: Undergraduate