Descartes
Early in meditations, Descartes says that no clear mark distinguishes dreaming from waking. "But in thinking over this, I remind myself that on many occasions, I have in sleep been deceived by similar illusions, and in dwelling carefully on this reflection I see no manifestly that there are no certain indications by which we may clearly distinguish wakefulness from sleep that I am lost in astonishment. An my astonishment is such that it is almost capable of persuading me that I now dream." (Descartes, 80). He worry's that since all we ever experience are our own inner mental states, we might, for all we could tell, be living in an illusion created by a malicious demon. In that case, most of our beliefs about reality would be false. Descartes' meditation's questions our definition of what reality is. Descartes states the dream argument and the evil genius scenario, both of which are intended to generate skeptical doubt. How do we know, for example, that we are awake now, rather than merely dreaming? How do we know that our thoughts are not being manipulated, and that our perceptions of 'reality' are accurate? What Descartes questions in his dream argument is that he often has perceptions very much like the ones he usuall
He later on says that we should not be certain that what we believe is the real thing. Damage to our brain or the influence of drugs on our body often affects our mind. All things have an answer to and it is not God who deceives us, it is the demon. Descartes states "And, besides, as I sometimes imagine that others deceive themselves in the things which they think they know best, how do I know that I am not deceived every time that I add two and three, or count the sides of a square, or judge of things yet simpler, if anything simpler can be imagines? But possibly God as not desired that I should be thus deceived, for He is said to be supremely good. Also, that there are no definite signs to distinguish dream experience from waking experience. The Rational Animal 2nd Edition. We believe that there is an all-powerful God who has created us and who is all-powerful. He has it in his power to make us be deceived even about matters of mathematical knowledge, which we seem to see clearly. Also, the mind and body add to notice the difference between dreaming and waking. Descartes later on in his meditations believed that God would not deceive us; Descartes introduces an evil demon instead. Descartes also goes on saying that because God does not deceive us, this is how we can differentiate dreaming from being awake. Descartes shows two ways in which mind and body seem to have different properties, and how, hence, they must be different things. Works CitedThe Philosophy Department City College of New York.
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