Descartes begins by stating: "I will now shut my eyes, block my ears, cut off all my senses. I will regard all my mental images of bodily tings as empty, false and worthless." Why does he do so?

Philosophy 

Reflection Question: What do you value?

I value vacations and playing video games. I put forward the idea these are valuable things to me. However, playing video games is only an instrumental value. In other words, young students play video games because they receive joy and satisfaction from playing video games. Do you agree?

Question 1: Is traveling the world (vacations abroad) desirable because it is instrumentally valuable, i.e., only valuable because it will help you achieve or acquire other things you desire? Is this because you think it is bad (unpleasant) in itself or just neutral (neither desirable nor undesirable)? Or is traveling the world also intrinsically valuable, i.e. valuable for its own sake? If so, why?

Question 2: Is playing video games (Xbox, Playstation, Nintendo Switch) desirable because it is instrumentally valuable, i.e., only valuable because it will help you achieve or acquire other things you desire? Is this because you think it is bad (unpleasant) in itself or just neutral (neither desirable nor undesirable)? Or is playing video games also intrinsically valuable, i.e. valuable for its own sake? If so, why?

How can political philosophy help us to achieve a balance between liberty and equality?

How can you help, as a student, to stop and further eliminate contagion of COVID 19?