Archive for the ‘Cogito’ tag
R&L Thread 3: I think not!
Reminders:
1) Post Two is due next week, so start thinking about something to post on! 20 comments are due the week after that.
2) Read Haugeland, “Semantic Engines” in the course packet for Tuesday (and be ready for a quiz!)
3) Screening tonight at 6 in the main lounge.
4) There is a talk tomorrow in Greg Hall rm 213, at 3pm entitled “KANT’S PARALOGISMS OF PURE REASON”. Should be fun, and you’ll get extra credit for showing up.
Here are some prompts for this week’s R&L thread. Post by Tuesday before class for credit.
- Descartes gives two proofs of God’s existence. Are they valid? Are they sound? (Dont answer unless you know what those terms mean!)
- Descartes’ proofs of God are both ‘ontological proofs’. Are there better proofs for the existence (or non-existence) of God? Are any such proofs convincing? Why or why not?
- Expand on any of the debate topics this afternoon. Feel free to stray from Descartes’ text as far as you like. I am especially interested in hearing more discussion on the relationship between the mind and the body.
- Descartes’ grand conclusion in the Meditations is his thinking subject- the cogito. If nothing else in Descartes interests you, it is hard to deny that this very compelling conclusion. But we know that Descartes still has problems. How else might Descartes have solved his skeptical challenge from this foundation?
- Post anything you’d like on Waking Life. Just about all the segments in the film can be found on Youtube, if you need a refresher.