Rene Descartes

Rene Descartes was an advocate of Dualism, which is a philosophy that states that the world is made up of two elemental categories that are incompatible, such as mind and body, which always exist separately. He wrote his Meditations with two central issues in mind: Proving the existence of God and proving the immortality of the soul through natural reason. The Meditations are divided into six separate sections that focus on different parts of Descartes’ argument.

The first Meditation focuses on the concept of true beliefs. Descartes sets out to determine what is true by doubting everything that he know or has learned to the point of writing the Meditations. His main suspicion of knowledge is that which is gained via sensory input (empirical). He created a systematic doubting experiment where sensory information is questioned for several reasons in search of undeniable truths. Through this experiment, he discerns between primary and secondary qualities of things. Primary objects, objects of senses, exist in the mind. For example, an apple tastes sweet, looks red, and smells fruity.

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I am not that active source since such perceptions are not willfully produced and do not involve thinking (my true essence)

4. His determination is that he exists as two separate substances – a thinking substance, which is nonphysical in nature, and an extended substance, which is physical, but not capable of thought. He also concludes that he (his essence, not his body) could not be created from several partial causes or by his parents. Descartes proposes that external objects are the active source of perceptions. Secondary objects, objects of mathematics, existence in space and have physical qualities (e.

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. He refutes this, however, based on the concept that infinite goodness must exist in God as a necessary attribute of God. This active source of perception is either me, God, or external objects

3. We have an idea of infinite perfection

2. I know clearly and distinctly that there is in me a passive faculty which receives perceptions from an active source

2. God does not implant ideas of perception in me since this would be deception

5. He proposes that he is body and soul, but cannot refer to body since it requires senses to know the body exists.

Descartes continues the first Meditation as he investigates God as a deceiver.

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Approximate Word count = 802
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

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