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The wax argument or the sheet of wax example is a thought experiment that René Descartes created in the second of his Meditations on First Philosophy.He devised it to analyze what properties are essential for bodies, show how uncertain our knowledge of the world is compared to our knowledge of our minds, and argue for rationalism.
Descartes uses the analogy of rebuilding a house from secure foundations, and extends the analogy to the idea of needing a temporary abode while his own house is being rebuilt. Descartes adopts the following "three or four" maxims in order to remain effective in the "real world" while experimenting with his method of radical doubt.
The trademark argument [1] is an a priori argument for the existence of God developed by the French philosopher and mathematician René Descartes.The name derives from the fact that the idea of God existing in each person "is the trademark, hallmark or stamp of their divine creator".
Meditations on First Philosophy, in which the existence of God and the immortality of the soul are demonstrated (Latin: Meditationes de Prima Philosophia, in qua Dei existentia et animæ immortalitas demonstratur), often called simply the Meditations, [1] is a philosophical treatise by René Descartes first published in Latin in 1641.
Descartes' proofs of God's existence presuppose the reliability of clear and distinct perceptions. Many commentators, both at the time that Descartes wrote and since, have argued that this involves a circular argument , as he relies upon the principle of clarity and distinctness to argue for the existence of God , and then claims that God is ...
In the first, the "thing" that is infinitely perfect does not have to exist. The "God" that Descartes had in mind was the God in his perception, which does not qualify for existence. As an example, one part of the God is this argument that God exists, which Descartes believe to be true and thus part of a perfect image of God.
Descartes's influence in mathematics is equally apparent, being the namesake of the Cartesian coordinate system. He is credited as the father of analytic geometry—used in the discovery of infinitesimal calculus and analysis. Descartes was also one of the key figures in the Scientific Revolution. Coat of arms of the Descartes family.
The Latin cogito, ergo sum, usually translated into English as "I think, therefore I am", [a] is the "first principle" of René Descartes's philosophy. He originally published it in French as je pense, donc je suis in his 1637 Discourse on the Method, so as to reach a wider audience than Latin would have allowed. [1]