Rationalism

Answer : In rigorous process of doubting Descartes gets an insight and finds a true and certain knowledge which, he says, he cannot doubt. He says that he can doubt everything but he cannot doubt the doubter. The fact that I cannot be doubted proves my existence. Thus Descartes concludes ‘cogito ergo sum’. Descartes says that he has obtained at least one self evident truth beyond doubt which is not merely conceptual but actual.

Descartes cogito ergo sum ....

Answer : The Principle of Identity of Indiscernible is a central concept underlying Leibnitz’s metaphysics. It is a principle of analytic ontology. It says that there are no two particulars having in common all their properties.

He believes in this principle because he thought it followed from other principles in metaphysics that is Principle of Sufficient Reason. He attempts to derive the principle of identity of discernible from an application of the principle of sufficient reason to God’s ....

Answer : Almost 2000 years after Plato and Aristotle reasoned that the human mind or soul could not be identified with the physical body, Rene Descartes reinforced this concept and gave it a name, dualism. Descartes’ famous saying epitomizes the dualism concept. He said, “Cogito ergo sum,” “I reflect therefore I am.” Descartes held that the immaterial mind and the material body are two completely different types of substances and that they interact with each other. He ....

Answer : The roots of the notion of determinism surely lie in a very common philosophical idea: the idea that everything can, in principle, be explained, or that everything that is, has a sufficient reason for being and being as it is, and not otherwise. In other words, the roots of determinism lie in what Leibniz named the Principle of Sufficient Reason. Since the first clear articulations of the concept, there has been a tendency among philosophers ....

Answer : The actual truth of the Principle seems unproblematic for medium-sized objects, such as rocks and trees, for they are complex enough to have distinguishing or individuating features, and hence may always be distinguished by some slight physical difference. But fundamental principles are widely held to be non-contingent.

We might require, therefore, that the Principle should hold even for hypothetical cases of qualitatively identical medium sized objects (e.g., clones which, contrary to fact, really are molecule for ....

Answer : One of the main themes in Spinoza’s Ethics is the issue of human freedom. To every individual Spinoza ascribes a conatus: the inner drive of every be­ing to persevere in its existence.As finite beings, however, we humans are neces­sarily limited by other finite beings. We are always subjected to external causes: other people and things affected us. Insofar as we are affected positively, our co­natus is supported. Insofar as we are affected negatively, our conatus ....

Answer : Descartes says that he wishes to examine those things which he thinks to be true and set aside all those beliefs of which there might be some doubt. Examining all of one’s beliefs, one by one, would be a very long, chancy and impractical process. So, Descartes needs a way to group beliefs together, which will allow him to call into question whole classes of beliefs by questioning their common character.

He finds such a way ....

Answer : Leibnitz was a rationalist thinker. He declared both metaphysics and maths as a basic science, hence for Leibnitz metaphysics is a elementary science. This basic element is monad. By establishing monadology, Leibnitz brought two changes. He amended the definition of the substance by accepting substance as free, powerful, conscious atom, be included atomism.

Before Leibnitz, Descartes accepted substance as that which is free for existence. Spinoza also accepted substance as that which is free for existence ....

Answer : Maths and science bears a special impact on the western rationalist thinker Leibnitz.Due to this impact Leibnitz tries to explain the world on the basis of mechanistic and deterministic way. To combine the mechanistic and deterministic view, Leibnitz propounded the concept of pre-established harmony. But this concept of Leibnitz remained fallacious, due to which his attempt didn’t not succeed.

To describe the diversity of the world mecha-nically, Leibnitz propounded the theory of Monadology. According to this, ....

Answer : Famous rationalist philosopher Spinoza, in his philosophy regarding substance, propounded that every determination of substance is its negation. This means that when we try to define substance through any quality, then we are actually negating it, in other words, substance does not remain independent.

According to Spinoza, substance is that which exists in itself and known through itself. Actually, there are two parts of this definition of Spinoza.By saying that “substance exists in itself” Spinoza implies ....

Answer : Descartes saying “cogito ergo sum” appears in his book “A Discourse on Method.” Through this sentence, Descartes in his philosophy accepted the self-proved existence of soul. Through this Descartes also proved that through intellect the existence of mind and soulcan be known.

In his book ‘A Discourse on Method’, Descartes writes, I can think that I have no body, there is no place on this earth where I can be, after all this also I can ....

Answer : Spinoza is a rationalist philosopher so he describes about determinism and freedom in the limit of rationalism. In Spinoza’s philosophy, concept of determinism depends on nature of freedom. If we think that freedom is self-willed then determinism does not co-exist with freedom. The actual meaning of freedom is defined by wisdom and in this context freedom exists with determinism.

In Spinoza’s philosophy, determinism means self determinism. In this context Spinoza disagrees with external pressure. Spinoza said ....

Answer : Descartes was able to prove “I think,therefore I am” from his philosophical method of doubt. Infact ‘cogito ergo sum’ was the logical corollary of the method of doubt. After proving the existence of ‘I’ or soul, Descartes accepted God as the cause of the soul.

Descartes says that there is an innate idea of God in his mind. This idea is of a god who is perfect, omniscient and omnipresent. But the question is, who has ....

Answer : Leibniz held a relational theory of space and time. Without things there would be no space, and without events there would be no time. Space and time are not containers into which things and events may be inserted but which could have remained empty. An even more ambitious denial of the substantiality of space and time makes space the “order of co-existents” and time the “order of successions”, or a “well-founded phenomenon.” Despite his admiration ....

Answer : The fundamental thing to keep in mind when thinking about Spinoza is one simple, striking, and paradoxical proposition: God is the only thing that exists. The way that Spinoza argues it is that there is only one substance, and then that there is only one individual of that substance. In the tradition of Anselm and Descartes, God is a “Necessary Being,” who cannot possibly nonexistent. Existence is part of his essence, and he cannot be ....

Answer : Many of the concepts analyzed by philosophers have their origin in ordinary or at least extra-philosophical language. Perception, knowledge, causation, and mind would be examples of this. But the concept of substance is essentially a philosophical term of art. Its uses in ordinary language tend to derive, often in a rather distorted way, from the philosophical senses. There could be said to be two rather different ways of characterizing the philosophical concept of substance. The ....

Answer : It is widely assumed that Descartes’ philosophy of mind is organized around three major commitments. The first is to substance dualism. The second is to individualism about mental content. The third is to a particularly strong form of the doctrine of privileged first-person access. Each of these commitments has been questioned by contemporary philosophers of mind. Substance dualism is generally regarded as a non-starter, individualism has come under attack from a number of different quarters, ....

Answer : Body-mind dualism has always been a problem in western philosophy. Descartes in his theory of interactionism provides solution to it. Descartes held that the brain (along with the rest of the body) was purely mechanistic in its principle of operation. This is true when body is considered without soul. Descartes is of view that the sense perceptions and physical passions of men are dependent upon the body, but awareness of them lies in the soul. ....

Answer : Spinoza is undoubtedly one of the greatest rationalist philosophers of the West. He developed the Cartesian theory of Substance into a full-fledged system of symmetry and perfection. To Spinoza there is only one Substance, God, and this he accepted in agreement with one of the aspects of the philosophy of Descartes. All things in the world follow for Spinoza from the supreme Substance, not as evolutes of it in the process of time, but in ....

Answer : Rene Descartes is widely regarded as the originator of modern philosophy. He also laid the foundations for modern science. But despite his innovatory ideas about the physical world, he never doubted that conscious minds exist on a separate, non-physical level. Descartes was a dualist. He thought that there are two separate but interacting realms, the mental and the material. Descartes’ view of the material world was itself very austere, quite different from previous views, and ....

Answer : Interactionism is the view put forth by Descartes to explain the body mind relationship. According to this theory mental states, such as beliefs and desires, causally interact with physical states. This is a position which is very appealing to common-sense intuitions, notwithstanding the fact that it is very difficult to establish its validity or correctness by way of argumentation or empirical proof. It seems to appeal to common-sense because we are surrounded by such everyday ....

Answer : To Spinoza there is only one Substance, God, and this he accepted in agreement with one of the aspects of the philosophy of Descartes. All things in the world follow for Spinoza from the supreme Substance, not as evolutes of it in the process of time, but in the manner of corollaries of a geometrical theorem. The universe is necessarily deduced from the one Substance as we deduce mathematical truths in our calculations and reasoning. ....

Answer : Descartes is often regarded as the first modern thinker to provide a philosophical framework for his thoughts as these began to develop. In his works he attempts to arrive at a fundamental set of principles that one can know as true without any doubt. He says that I have convinced myself that there is absolutely nothing in the world, no sky, no earth, no minds, and no bodies. Does it now follow that I too ....

Answer : Spinoza holds that Nature is in reality the one universal Substance, and its appearance as consisting of diversified phenomena is the result of our imperfect ways of looking at it. Everything in the world is an attribute or a mode of the eternal Substance, and its existence is the reality of all things. Spinoza goes beyond Descartes when he thinks that God and mind, too, are determined by the laws of mechanics. Spinoza makes strict ....

Answer : Descartes was the first great philosopher of the modern era whose new approach won him recognition as the progenitor of modern philosophy. Descartes’ pursuit of mathematical and scientific truth soon led to a new tradition in philosophy. Much of his work was concerned with the provision of a secure foundation for the advancement of human knowledge through the natural sciences. After years of work in private, Descartes finally concluded that since mathematics has genuinely achieved ....

Answer : Leibniz’s Monadology is a very concise and condensed presentation of his theory that the universe consists of an infinite number of substances called monads. Leibniz discusses the nature of monadic perception and consciousness, the principles which govern truth and reason, and the relation of the monadic universe to God. Leibniz defines a monad as a simple substance which cannot be divided into parts. A compound substance may be formed by an aggregation of monads. Thus, ....

Answer : Interactionism is the view put forth by Descartes to explain the body mind relationship. According to this theory mental states, such as beliefs and desires, causally interact with physical states. This is a position which is very appealing to common-sense intuitions, notwithstanding the fact that it is very difficult to establish its validity or correctness by way of argumentation or empirical proof. It seems to appeal to common-sense because we are surrounded by such everyday ....

Answer : Spinoza is undoubtedly one of the greatest rationalist philosophers of the West. He developed the Cartesian theory of Substance into a full-fledged system of symmetry and perfection. To Spinoza there is only one Substance, God, and this he accepted in agreement with one of the aspects of the philosophy of Descartes. All things in the world follow for Spinoza from the supreme Substance, not as evolutes of it in the process of time, but in ....

Answer : The mind-body problem concerns the explanation of the relationship that exists between mental processes, and bodily states or processes. The main aim of philosophers working in this area is to determine the nature of the mind and mental states/processes, and how—or even if—minds are affected by and can affect the body. Our perceptual experiences depend on stimulation which we receive from the external world and these stimuli cause changes in our mental states, ultimately causing ....

Answer : Descartes’ ontological (or a priori) argument is both one of the most fascinating and poorly understood aspects of his philosophy. Fascination with the argument stems from the effort to prove God’s existence from simple but powerful premises. Existence is derived immediately from the clear and distinct idea of a supremely perfect being. Ironically, the simplicity of the argument has also produced several misreading, exacerbated in part by Descartes’ failure to formulate a single version. The ....