N5 Descartes

What does Descartes realise about many of his strongly held beliefs at the beginning of the Meditations?

• They are based on his intuition.

• They are not based on anything.

• They are based on reason.

• They are based on experience.

Answer explanation

This leads Descartes to doubt this kind of knowledge in his senses argument (1st wave).

P1: My senses have deceived me in the past.

P2: It is wise not to have complete trust in something that has previously deceived you.

C: ......................................................................................................

• Therefore, it is wise not to have complete trust in my senses
• Therefore, it is wise to completely trust my senses
• Therefore, my senses are always deceiving me
• Therefore, I should not use my senses

Descartes' senses argument targets...

• empiricism
• a posteriori knowledge
• a priori knowledge

• rationalism

What examples does Descartes give to support his senses argument?

• Things that sound different to how we imagined.

• Things that appear to be a different colour.

• Things that are far away or very small.

• Things that turn out to be completely different.

P1: ........................................................................................................................

P2: If there are no certain signs that distinguish my waking life from being asleep and dreaming, then it is possible that I am not awake right now but rather dreaming I am awake.

C: It is possible that I am not awake right now but rather dreaming I am awake.

• There are certain signs that distinguish my waking life from being asleep and dreaming.

• There are no certain signs that distinguish my waking life from being asleep and dreaming.

• There is a high chance that my waking life is distinct from dreaming of being awake.

• It is possible that I cannot tell right now that I am dreaming I am awake.

Descartes talks of sitting by the fire holding a piece of paper. What is the point of this?

• He can't be sure that God isn't deceiving him into thinking he's sitting by the fire.

• The senses initially seem to be reliable for things that are very obvious.

• The senses are reliable in cases like this.

• He sometimes thinks he is sitting by the fire when in fact he is in bed, dreaming that he is awake.

If we can have experiences in dreams of seeing things that are not there in reality, then...

• perhaps I am being deceived into thinking my dreams are really experiences of the external world.

• perhaps I am being systematically deceived by a powerful being.

• perhaps I can't fully trust my senses.

• perhaps all supposed experiences of the external world are, similarly, a product of the mind.

Which type of knowledge survives the dreaming argument?

• a priori

• a posteriori

How does Descartes begin to doubt a priori knowledge?

Answer explanation

‘How do I know that God has not brought it about that I too go wrong every time I add two and three or count the sides of a square?’

What does Descartes conclude at the end of the Deceiving God argument?

• A posteriori knowledge is undermined by the possibility that God might be deceiving him.

• The foundations for all his knowledge are undermined by the possibility that God might be deceiving him.

• Most of his knowledge are undermined by the possibility that God might be deceiving him,

• A priori knowledge is undermined by the possibility that God might be deceiving him.

Answer explanation

P1: If God did not create me then I exist due to a process of chance or fate, or some other means.

P2: If I am created by something less powerful than God, then I am more likely to be prone to error or deception than if I were created by a creator God.

P3: Either I am created by a creator God and am possibly being deceived by such a God, or I have been created by something less perfect and am even more likely to be deceived.

_______________________________________

C    I may be being deceived all the time, whatever the explanation for my existence.