Paragraph 42, 43 and 44.
.....because light proceeds almost entirely from them.....
In this paragraph Descartes speaks about light. He points out that light comes from the sun, the stars, heaven,plants, comets and earth. The sun, stars, and heaven transmit light; planets, comets, and earth reflect light, and all of this is observed by man. In respect to the light, Descartes believes that there should be nothing about this matter observed by man. He felt that his explanation of where light comes from was sufficient to know that that is something man can not interfere with. Furthermore, he then speaks about earth and how the movements of the sun, heaven and moon have something to do with there being water and air on the surface. He then explains how this is all part of nature.
Many may argue Descartes on his explanations of light and nature while others may agree with him. I in the other hand would be one of those people who agrees with him. I believe nature is something that no man can interfere with. Such things as light, air and water happens naturally. I do believe it has something to do with the sun and all other elements outside of earth.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
I don't agree with Decartes. With todays science, or even 1900 science, its clear that the light we get only comes from the sun. The moon only reflects the light from the sun at night. Assuming heaven is above us that we havn't seen, I don't believe light comes from there either. The movements of heaven are the reason for air and water? I don't get what he means.
I agree with Descartes, I think that lot of movements through the universe, including the heavens have something to deal with the Gods.
I agree that the light comes from the sun. That is all i can think of that iluminates us. Maybe the water and natural resources have to do with gods creation for us to survive. He created us so he must have also created the natural resources for us to survive with.
roach, what descartes means by the heavens having something to do with air and water is they create some kind of ebb. he explains it well on paragraph 44 when hesays "....had to cause there an ebb and flow similar in all respects to what we observe in our seas......" as you read that paragraph, he goes into depth about air and water and also how mountains, seas, springs, and rivers could naturally be formed.
Post a Comment