Descartes and "reality"
Zomg. Public entry. This is the first one for a while. This is a journal entry I wrote for my philosophy class. I thought it was interesting. I have to do stuff like this all the time.
"In terms of philosophy the branch that confuses me the most is epistemology. Which as we all know, is the study of how much we know, and how we know things. This afternoon, I decided to read up on some Descartes in order to better understand the body vs. mind debate, as well as to learn about the man’s theories and ideology.
Cogito ergo sum, (“Je pense donc, je suis” or “I think therefore I am”) is his most quoted and famous saying. Which is to say that since your thoughts exist, therefore you exist, and without thought we cannot exist. This attempts to answer the age-old question, “how do we know that we exist?” Or even, “what do we know is real? What is real?” Which of course is a valid question. How do we know that we are indeed humans in existence, and that we are not just some sort of illusion. The biggest argument is mind vs. body. Which do we trust more, our reasoning, or our senses?
Descartes gives the example of a dream. In a dream, we perceive different things. We can see, touch, and hear, and they all seem real. However when we wake up, we then realise that the dream had not occurred at all, and was in fact not “real”.
He also uses what is called, “the Wax Argument” in order to further express his point in the body vs. mind argument. He uses a piece of was as his example. His senses tell him that it is a piece of wax, because using his senses, the characteristics of the object placed in front of him implies that it is indeed wax. It looks like wax, it tastes like wax, it feels like wax, and it smells like wax, therefore it must be wax. However, when the wax is placed near a flame, the characteristics of the object change almost completely. Only, our mind is telling us that the object is still wax. In conclusion to this argument he states, that in order to properly perceive the wax he must use his mind and reasoning, rather than his senses.
From this, Descartes argued that the body and the senses were not reliable when trying to separate reality from the surreal. Therefore people should rely more on their mind and their deductive reasoning in order to pass judgement, and to make decisions.
Personally, I don’t know where I stand in this argument. I believe that both the body and the mind must work together in order to in order to make an accurate perception of reality. Although Descartes believed that the senses were involuntary and are not willed by him, and therefore cannot be trusted in true judgment because they are outside the mind, I disagree with him. The sense help and act as a guide. We base our thoughts and ideas on what we perceive when using our senses. Without our senses we lack a depth of perception. In order to better understand what an apple is we must be able to feel it, and to taste it, rather than just “knowing” what an apple is."
"In terms of philosophy the branch that confuses me the most is epistemology. Which as we all know, is the study of how much we know, and how we know things. This afternoon, I decided to read up on some Descartes in order to better understand the body vs. mind debate, as well as to learn about the man’s theories and ideology.
Cogito ergo sum, (“Je pense donc, je suis” or “I think therefore I am”) is his most quoted and famous saying. Which is to say that since your thoughts exist, therefore you exist, and without thought we cannot exist. This attempts to answer the age-old question, “how do we know that we exist?” Or even, “what do we know is real? What is real?” Which of course is a valid question. How do we know that we are indeed humans in existence, and that we are not just some sort of illusion. The biggest argument is mind vs. body. Which do we trust more, our reasoning, or our senses?
Descartes gives the example of a dream. In a dream, we perceive different things. We can see, touch, and hear, and they all seem real. However when we wake up, we then realise that the dream had not occurred at all, and was in fact not “real”.
He also uses what is called, “the Wax Argument” in order to further express his point in the body vs. mind argument. He uses a piece of was as his example. His senses tell him that it is a piece of wax, because using his senses, the characteristics of the object placed in front of him implies that it is indeed wax. It looks like wax, it tastes like wax, it feels like wax, and it smells like wax, therefore it must be wax. However, when the wax is placed near a flame, the characteristics of the object change almost completely. Only, our mind is telling us that the object is still wax. In conclusion to this argument he states, that in order to properly perceive the wax he must use his mind and reasoning, rather than his senses.
From this, Descartes argued that the body and the senses were not reliable when trying to separate reality from the surreal. Therefore people should rely more on their mind and their deductive reasoning in order to pass judgement, and to make decisions.
Personally, I don’t know where I stand in this argument. I believe that both the body and the mind must work together in order to in order to make an accurate perception of reality. Although Descartes believed that the senses were involuntary and are not willed by him, and therefore cannot be trusted in true judgment because they are outside the mind, I disagree with him. The sense help and act as a guide. We base our thoughts and ideas on what we perceive when using our senses. Without our senses we lack a depth of perception. In order to better understand what an apple is we must be able to feel it, and to taste it, rather than just “knowing” what an apple is."