"But on what grounds could one deny that these hands and this entire body are mine?"
In paragraph 19, Descartes describes how even though our senses can deceive us, there are such senses that cannot be put into doubt. For instance, that our body are real and not something that can be questioned as, are these hands real? or is it just an illusion? There are things that cannot be called into doubt, such as 2 + 2 is 4. We know thats a fact because there is no way around it. Something as simple as that cannot deceive us in any way.
Later on in the paragraph, Descartes starts to distinguish the difference from being awake and asleep. How do we know that we are not dreaming, that we really are awake? With that in mind, for the sake of argument, as he says, let us assume that our hands, eyes, and other parts of the body are just images. But how can they be not true if such bodies are on paintings. Paintings cannot be false, it has to be true. Therefore, our hands and eyes cannot just be images.
I think that Descartes is not trying to doubt that our bodies are images or any like, i think that he is trying to convince us that whether we are awake or asleep, simple things as our bodies, shapes and simple math equations, are true no matter what and should not be put into doubt because the way we are and how a square can only have 4 sides, is all created by God. Yes sometimes our senses are deceived and people can deceive us but that does not mean that everything that comes from the same senses should be put into doubt. God created things the way they are because that's how he wanted them to be. He doesn't want us to be deceived by everything because God is good and he wouldn't do such a thing. This whole doubt thing, in my opinion is just another form of Descartes showing that God does exist and that he is good, and that should not be doubted.
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8 comments:
Hey i agree with you on that. Like he says he questions so many things that could be a dream, but certain things are not to be question if is true or not, because we know they are true and that is what he is trying to tell us. Than he has doubt, and that is why he blames it on evil. He says evil is trying to decieves us, not god because god is good. What confuses me about him is in some statements he does not seem confuse anymore but in others he starts to doubtful again.
Sometimes I wondered if what I see of my own body (the way I look) is the same as if my parent's image of my look. I do i know for sure if everything we see is the same in everybody elses' eyes?
Like both of what you guys agree on, there are things that are out there that is and will deceive us. but there are small and general things like squares are 4 sided,we have to all agree on. It can't be doubt on.
i believe that Descartes is not really sure at times whether god is real. thats why at times he seems sure and other time confused. Descartes seems to want to figure out the max capacity of his understanding by trying to figure out whether to believe in god or doubt his existence. he wants to understand gods truth and by that i mean if he was the one who put us in this world.
I agree with what Madrano mentioned. I think that Descartes doesnt know what to believe. As I read through my parts of both books, it seems to me like he does believe that God exists, but then as I read through some others, i feel like he has a lot of doubts. I also agree with what you are saying Francinia. Things like our hands and eyes cannot just be images. Whether we are awake or sleeping, these things are true and they are not just images.
for the most part we can all agree that descartes sometimes confuses himself too. he believes in god but at the same time he has many doubts about certain things that god created. its as if he thinks they are too good to be true.
ally, i think that everything one sees is different from what someone else sees, which is why i think that we are all deceived. for example, when looking at a tree, some people may see just a tree, but to someone else it can be more than just a tree. it can be a symbol or sign representing something. everyone has a different perspective.
I agree that Descartes is trying to show that God does exist and that shouldn't be doubted, but in many parts of the book it seems like he doubts a lot of things. I agree with what Francinia because he seems as if he is just confusing himself. How does he believe in God if he has no real proof that he does exist? Personally, i do believe in God, but he said he does not believe things he does not see. In a way he is confusing.
The senses can always play tricks on you. Walking in the dark, you tend to hear everything and anything making a noise. Being alone even though you might feel someone is still right behind you. The eyes can trick what you are actually seeing, but only the brain decides WHAT you are seeing, and that may not be what is actually there.
but if our brain controls every movement in the body, how is it that sometimes we see things that arent really there? why are we being deceived in such a way that we have no explanation for? could it be that God is deceiving us in such a way? descartes argues that God is good and all but why are we deceived by our senses?
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