Within his second meditation, Descartes seeks \"to save himself from the general seas of skepticism...\" (Blackburn, 1999, p 20). In other words, he attempts to limit the all-consuming spread of doubt brought about by the evil demon hypothesis. Descartes holds that the Cogito argument establishes th...

In The Ontological Argument, Saint Anselm argues that God is "that than which nothing greater can be conceived". Is Saint Anselm's argument valid? Atheists or Satanists don't believe in God. Is everything they think of considered bad or evil? Or do they think of God, not as H...

Chapter 2: That God truly exists First of all, to fully understand this perplexing argument, you must strongly believe the definition of God St. Anselm gives, which is as followed: God is something that which nothing greater can be conceived. Anselm's statement essentially means that it is not po...

The mind and body problem is the philosophical problem of whether there are non-physical minds, souls, or spirits. On one side we have the dualist who believe that there are causal relationships between mind and body. On the other side we have the materialist who hold a firm believe that everything ...

Anselm is concerned with the existence of God. He has put into writing his proof for the existence of God, so as to aid others that have the same desire. Chapter II - That God truly exists. Existence in understanding vs. existence in reality. The question is whether God exists "in realit...

Artificial Intelligence: Cognitive Ability or Information Processing Computers have become an integral part of our everyday lives. We rely upon these machines to perform innumerable tasks that we often take for granted. Most people realize that computers are able to perform the multitude...

Can You Show That We Don't Know Anything? Most people go through life without ever questioning the idea of knowledge. We all make statements every day such as 'I know X', and 'We all have knowledge of Y', yet when we truly examine what it means to 'know' some...

Like many people today, Plato held the belief that the human being was both dualistic in nature, namely comprising of two separate entities; body and soul, and possessing a soul that would survive its embodied state. Plato saw the soul as immortal through being cyclical in nature and having this cy...

Part One: In the \"Fifth Meditation\" by Rene Descartes, he makes a case for the existence of God. He goes on to give reason to prove his argument that to exist is to believe in God for without God we would not exist. Descartes gives the analogy of a mountain and a valley, pointing out that if a p...

Representative realism is the belief that physical objects are independent of the mind and that they carry certain characteristics that have nothing to do with the individual perceiving them. It is the belief that objects exist whether or not they are being perceived or not. John Locke was a realis...

Rene Descartes, a French philosopher, departed to Holland in order to pursue his dream of writing. During this period while he was in Holland, he wrote many works including one of his most known, Meditations on First Philosophy. In this work Descartes uses a specific method, sometimes referred to as...

In David Hume's Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, Cleanthes' argument from design is successful in supporting the idea that the universe has an ordered arrangement and pattern. This argument is not sound in its ability to prove the existence of the Christian God. However, Cleanthes...

1.In the sixth chapter of his work "Meditations" Descartes makes a distinction between the mind and the body as two things which are fundamentally different, referring to the body, he calls it "res estensa", a finite, limited thing which does not have the capacity to think. The m...

Small discussion on the wax argument In Descartes¡¯ second meditation, when considering the corporeal things in the external world he takes the wax as an example to examine whether it is our sense that gives us the understanding of these things. First, when the wax has just been taken out from th...

Anselm's Definition of God As a philosopher, Anselm is most often remembered for his attempts to prove the existence of God. Anselm presented the popular Ontological Argument. In this argument Anselm declares that God is "that than which no greater can be thought." Anselm feels that that God exis...

Anselm's Definition of God As a philosopher, Anselm is most often remembered for his attempts to prove the existence of God. Anselm presented the popular Ontological Argument. In this argument Anselm declares that God is "that than which no greater can be thought." Anselm feels that that God exis...

It is my conclusion that dualism does not provide a satisfactory account of the nature of the mind, and I shall attempt to illustrate the major flaws in the argument for dualism as Descartes puts forward. As hinted to above, the argument for dualism is effectively put forward in Rene Descartes&ap...

In the story "Say Yes" by Tobias Wolff, a couple's argument reveals a deeper question about their relationship. Why does Anne ask her husband a question, when she already knows the answer? She asks her husband, what she thought was an emotional question, hoping to trigger an emotional response. Inst...

Descartes second consideration on the existence of God relies on his belief of the certainty of clear and distinct perceptions. In the meditations prior to meditation five Descartes emphasized the truth evoked by everything which is clearly and distinctly perceived. Descartes is able to theorize tha...

Introduction Can mind exist with out the presence of body? Rene' Descartes in his Meditations on the First Philosophy, comes to the conclusion that mind and body are distinct from one another, therefore mind is not dependent on body. Descartes uses an example of a sailor to a ship. In his example ...

Part One:In the "Fifth Meditation" by Rene Descartes, he makes a case for the existence of God. He goes on to give reason to prove his argument that to exist is to believe in God for with out God we would not exist. Descartes gives the analogy of a mountain and a valley, pointing out that if a per...

Proof of a Physical World (i.e. We're not just floating brains) 1) The mind perceives or "creates" the physical world 2) The mind cannot create anything original A) The mind did not originate the ideas of the physical world, but still creates it 1) The mind can only b...

Explain the 'block of wax' example (Med II, pp. 20-21). Why does Descartes bring it up? What is it supposed to show? Use this example to develop a valid argument for what it is supposed to show. Does it show what Descartes thinks it does? Why or why not?To give context to the 'block of wax exampl...

Interpretation on Descartes Argument of the Existence of God in the Third MeditationDescartes challenges the existence of God in the Third Meditation. He approaches this challenge by sorting his thoughts into a systematic critique of his ideas and surroundings to develop his argument that God exist...

Descartes and the Existence of God Meditation III The existence of God has been a question since the idea of God was even conceived. Rene Descartes tries to prove God's existence, and to show that there is without a doubt something external to one's own existence. Decartes is looking for...