Monday, February 18, 2008

Meditations part 5

I've read this part over several times and still don't exactly know what Descartes is trying to say. He first tries to free himself from doubts in which he previously fell into before. He says he notices things for the first time that were inface in him for a while. He also says, " what i believe must be considered above all". Sounds like he didn't trust any one but himself, and doesn't want to hear about any one else's theories. Descartes believes that if a triangle doesn't exist any where in the world, that it still has a deterninate nature. Even though he may of imagined it, it's still something. That is what i think he's saying. He even goes as far as saying that all he knows is clearly true. For a man of his time, or any time for that matter, it's a very bold statement. It's not evenn clear what he even knows to be true or not.

4 comments:

Mark said...

Descartes seems to be a very paranoid man.

Jason Sagos said...

i agree, he seems like he knows what he's saying, but he wants to exclude every one and their ideas because his are definetly correct

Lindsay Domb said...

yea, I totally agree with both of you. And then he trys to confuse the reader so much that you start to doubt what is real and false. Sometimes I don't even get why he trys to compare God's existence to mathematical concepts. I know he is trying to prove God exists but even if God exists there is no mathematical way to figure out God's existence. Then, I wonder if God is a representation of something else. However, to me at least, it seems that Descartes truly believed in "God", a perfect being, to exist.

Kate B-G said...

yeah this was something i noticed also when i was reading. that he was paranoid.