PHL100Y1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 16: Thought Experiment
Document Summary
A meditation is originally a religious exercise. It"s a thought experiment in the 1st person. Despite the sucky preface acknowledging the authority of the church, it is subversive: I get to decide myself about god"s existence! I had accepted many false claims as true everything i had later constructed was doubtful" (17) Aim: to tear everything down completely and begin again from the most basic foundations . Let"s assume that i have no senses - an opposite belief, unnecessary. Undermining common-sense: unless i compare myself to insane people . But we are all mad in our dreams: One cannot tell if they are dreaming or awake. However, when we dream, our dreams are constructed out of reliable general things are not imaginary . Extension (to descartes): the physical space that things occupy. Compare: gad y" moment in meno: in both cases, one realizes they don"t know.
