PHIL 1F90 Lecture Notes - Lecture 17: Cartesian Doubt, Mental Substance, Cogito Ergo Sum

• School: Brock University
• Department: Philosophy
• Course: PHIL 1F90
• Professor: Richard Brown

Document Summary

Descartes wants to make philosophy like math or science. To do this he is going to discard any beliefs that can be questioned. He will assess reason by means of reason to generate a rule of evidence by which he can distinguish what is true from what is false. The principal of common or naive realism. Meditation i is the methodic overturning of that single principle. Before we enter the cartesian (methodic doubt) we have to draw distinction between two doubts. Real doubt - doubts we actually do have. If you could extend those real doubts logically they would become hypothetical doubts. Now for the application of methodic doubt. He says, sometimes, my senses do deceive me . When things are: far away, very small, lighting is poor, etc. Descartes asks how can i doubt am sitting in front of the fire place, that i am looking at the paper or that this is my body.