Instruction
In reading Descartes first Meditation, it is important to note that its easy, conversational style (Descartes appears to be engaged in a dialogue with himself) conceals a great deal of compressed argument. It is helpful in understanding this famous work to discern precisely where the arguments appear throughout the text. The following questions are intended to get you to recognize each of the main arguments (some arguments are more important than others) and gain a better view of the text’s argumentative structure. Please answer in essay form in no less than one page.
1. In Meditation I, Descartes introduces his “method of doubt.” What does this method entail? For what purpose is it introduced?
2. In one early passage, Descartes confidently asserts that he is lying by a fire, in a gown, hold a paper in his hands. How is this related to his method of doubt?
3. Descartes invokes God, and later, a Malicious and all-powerful demon. What two doubts does Descartes raise by invoking them in Meditation I. (You may want to reread the second half of Med. I before answering)
4. What is the argument (in Med. II) that leads ultimately to Descartes’ claim: “I am; I exist, must be true whenever I assert it or think of it? Why can’t Descartes say that his body exists whenever he asserts or thinks of it?
5. State the two conclusions reached by Descartes in his famous “Wax experiment.”