Descartes and the information from the senses, philosophy homework help

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Descartes believed that information gleaned from the senses could be very unreliable, and since dreams depend upon sensory information, their trustworthiness becomes even more suspect as they mimic the things that we actually do and feel/experience while awake. That is part of the reason that he has serious doubts about what we call the Pinch Test. Many websites suggest that there are two possibilities for Descartes’ “Pinch Test.” Although various websites phrase them a bit differently, the choices they propose are:

(1) If I'm dreaming and someone in the dream pinches me, I will wake up.

(2) If I am awake and think I might be dreaming and someone pinches me, I'll be able to tell whether I'm dreaming or not.

But, Descartes has considered both of the above possibilities and rejects them equally in his Meditations. In fact, he concludes that: (Descartes) If I am dreaming and someone pinches me, I will not wake up but dream that I felt the pain and dream that I woke up—but, I will still be asleep and still be dreaming.

Granted, this sounds a lot like what is going on with the people still connected as energy generators in “The Matrix” movies, which is not too surprising since the guys who wrote those movies actually studied Philosophy. The people still connected to the matrix are dreaming that they are awake; thus, when they are dreaming that they are awake and experiencing sensations (like being pinched), they are actually still dreaming.

So, here comes your real challenge.

If you cannot trust your senses when you are awake (since they often lie to you and give you bad information, like telling you a favorite food tastes “weird” when you are sick, or that a road is wet on a hot day when it is actually an optical mirage, or even that you might have a “phantom pain” in a limb after it has already been surgically removed), what sort of knowledge can you know with certainty is true, whether you are awake or dreaming? For help, look at Descartes’ reasoning for the “Cogito ergo sum” (“I think; therefore, I am”), and try to figure out why Descartes was so positive that this was the first thing that he could know was true without any doubts. Explain why this was the first thing he could know was true with absolute certainty.

Then, tell us something that you know is true with the same sort of undoubtable certainty.

After that, answer these questions:

o How did you reach the conclusion that it was true and could not be doubted?

o Was there a process or method like Descartes used to prove it was undoubtable, and what was it?

o How could you convince other people that it is true and they cannot doubt it either?

o Finally, what would have to happen in order for you to doubt the truth of this thing in the future?

Make sure each answer is at the very least 200 words long.

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Explanation & Answer

Attached.

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1. Explanation of the reasoning behind the ‘cogito’ as envisioned by Descartes (Word Count:
212)


How the ‘first item of knowledge’ was derived and how it can be explained

2. Something that I know to be undoubtedly true (word count: 204)


One concept which I know to be true and undoubtable

3. Method to prove its true (word count: 204)


How this I tested this concept

4. How to convince others that it is undoubtable (word count: 209)


How I can convince others that it is true and undoubtable

5. How could my belief change (Word count: 206)


Under which circumstances could this belief change

Works Cited
Works cited in MLA format


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An Analysis of Descartes’ Epistemology
In his epistemology, Descartes’ holds the notion that the virtue that one thinks confirms that they
exist. The reason why he felt this was the first item of knowledge is that the ability to think alone
is a justification of one’s existence from the methodical point of view (Newman, 2016). Another
reason why Descartes’ was certain that once ‘existence is not debatable is because it can be
affirmed by the methodical approach. Descartes’ used the ideals of methodical doubt to prove the
case for reference of this concept as the first item of knowledge. From this method of doubt, the
existence of an individual’s body is highly debatable; however, the existence of their thoughts and
thinking processes is not debatable. As a matter of fact, Descartes’ idealized the thinking processes
as a means through which the existence of humans can be proven. It is important to point out here
that it is essential for the claim of first item of knowledge to be proven in the first person as this is
the only way it can be affirmed. An attempt to use the second person or third person in this context
gives room to doubt. In addition, it is important that the cogito is perceived only in the present
tense (Reed, 2011).
One phenomenon which am certain exists in nature in the current world is ‘light’ and ‘darkness’.
Human kind has been programmed through nature and over time to believe that the concept of
light and darkness are opposites of each other and that both of these conditions are opposites of
each other. In coming to this conclusion, I considered the manner in which light and darkness
exists in nature Vis a Vis how we have been taught to perceive these concepts. According to
Descartes’ the fact that one thinks, makes him exist. Borrowing from this concept, I was able to
confirm some of the facts pertaining to the two concepts. For one, darkness an...


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I was having a hard time with this subject, and this was a great help.

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