Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Descartes' Perspective of the Self


Rene Descartes (1596-1650) French philosopher and mathematician, considered the founder of modern philosophy.

Please comment below on Descartes' perspective of the self.

12 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Descartes thinks human beings can use mathematics method which is rationalism to do philosophical analyze. He believes, the rationalism is more reliable than the sensation. For example that in our dream, we think we are in a in the real world, but in fact it is a kind of imagination. Descartes is the first who advocate for everything to doubt, and can't trust our senses.

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  3. Descartes thought that the self is a thinking thing distinct from the body. His first famous principle was " Cogito, ergo sum", which means I think, therefore I am." Although the mind and body are physically together as a whole, the mind and body are mentally independent and serve their own function. He was convinced that we must use our own mind and thinking abilities to investigate, analyze, experiment and develop our own well- reasoned conclusions.It is also important to doubt as far as possible all things in order to become a real seeker for the truth.

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  4. Descartes believed that the self is the first evident truth, and the second evident truth would be the body. He believed that the mind and body where co-dependent to each other, also known as dualism. In spite of the unity of the mind and body, they both have their ideal functions. Through the mind Descartes says it should be used to distinguish the things that are certain.

    - Rosabelis F.

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  5. According to Descarte a thinking thing exist if a person exists and continues to exist. He believes the mind and body are intertwined in dualism. Descarte's belief "Cogito, ergo sum" meaning "I think, therefor I am" is an example of if the mind is thinking then you exist. I think he also means that if your body cease to exist then your mind, "the thing that thinks" dies out along with it. According to him self-identity depends fully on our consciousness, once that has cease to exist we no longer can think, therefore we cease to exist.
    - Bristy M.

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  6. Existence of the mind was what Descartes considered to be the first self-evident truth. He believed that if you were able to think that you could not doubt that you existed, therefore you would be considered a self-aware being. He believed that the mind was apart of the non-material world and that the body was apart of the material world. Descartes believed that the second self-evident truth was the existence of god and that the third self-evident truth was the existence of the material world.

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  8. Shirley A. believes in descartes problem of Dualism, and i agree with her.There is a distinction between the body and mind. as Shirley says Even though body and mind physically but they function separately. But there is close connection between them. she explains good reasons to support his view. i would give her B+.

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  9. i agree with Rosabelis's comment on Descartes' dualism. i think that body and soul are connected but their functionally different than each other.i would give her an A

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