By the use of pure logic, Descartes reaches some of the same conclusions that Plato had before him. In Meditation One, he first reaches the conclusion that the senses are sometimes deceitful, hence, not reliable sources of knowledge - this is not very different from Plato's idea that knowledge can only be attained through reason and not the senses. Descartes goes on, saying that the basis for all factual ideas need to be 'indubitable', or indisputable. Ideally, such indubitable facts are derived from mathematics, apparent laws of physics, and common sense. For example, no sane person can say that two plus two does not equal four. These indubitable facts are similar to Plato's forms. Neither of them exist in space nor time, and both signify the highest level of knowing.
It is also remarkable that they both reached these conclusions from different perspectives. Plato was concerned about how we knew that certain things like justice and equality existed, even though we never truly saw them. He deduced that we must have seen them as forms at some point before we were born. On the other hand, Descartes was concerned about how he could be certain about something. Essentially, his conclusion is that to be certain of something, one has to see whether it conforms with basic, indubitable facts. The examples he gives of these indubitable facts fit Plato's description of the Forms. The fact that both philosophers reached the same conclusion through different perspectives gives their ideas more credibility.
After introducing the concept of indubitable facts, he mentions that even mythical creatures hold some degree of reality because they consist of real parts. For instance, there is no such thing as a pegasus, but there are such things as horses and eagles. This is the part that intrigues me, because previously, he had mentioned that facts that are based on indubitable facts are truthful. According to this, it would seem that since the pegasus is based on real creatures, then it must be real. Is this the case, or could it be that the pegasus is not based on real creatures, and that the animals it is based on are deceptions of our senses?
What do you guys think?
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
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2 comments:
You are missing an e.
Good questions, Kaiser. I like your reference to how a "sane" person couldn't doubt certain things, like mathematical truths.
Just as point of fact, "indubitable" means unable to be doubted. That seems like an important observation, since doubt plays such an important role in the Meditations.
Good question about the Pegasus, but I wonder if you are not heading the wrong direction with this question.
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