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Example research essay topic: Meditations On First Philosophy Cartesian Dualism - 2,156 words

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Meditations by Descartes The main feature of European philosophical thought is that it never loses its actuality, regardless of whether it promotes the idea of thing of itself or denies objectivity to anything that doesnt have a direct relation to our sensory perception of the world. One of the best examples to this is philosophy of Rene Descartes, which shows us that ones ability to operate with abstract categories accounts as the most important factor, when it comes to establishing a certain set of philosophical ideals that strive for universality. Let us analyze briefly the essence of Descartes concept, in order to be able to figure out whether it can resist the skeptical challenge, on the part of idealists, skeptics and feminists. Cartesian Dualism, as philosophic method, was introduced by the French philosopher Rene Descartes (1596 1650), who in his Meditations on First philosophy had suggested the parallel existence of two, fundamentally opposite essences material body and immaterial mind, where immaterial mind is fully independent of its body and even capable of existing without it. According to him, physical and mental substances have its properties: extension corresponds to physical substance, and ability to think is a property of mental substances. All the matter and the space have an extension they are reality of material realm.

Matter sometimes gets to be rearranged in space that is movement. The power behind such movement is God. According to Descartes, mens body is nothing but a link between lower material realm and higher spiritual. The only thing that enables person to asses surrounding reality, is its consciousness. I think, therefore I am this Descartes saying is very helpful to grasp the essence of his ideas. On the one hand I have a clear and distinct idea of myself, in so far as I am simply a thinking, non-extended thing; and on the other hand I have a distinct idea of body, in so far as this is simply an extended, non-thinking thing.

And accordingly, it is certain that I am really distinct from my body, and can exist without it. (Descartes, Meditation VI). What is so remarkable about quoted passage from Descartes Meditation on First Philosophy? In my opinion, it is the fact that there is unique interconnection of idealism and logic. This is one of characteristics of Western philosophy as a whole.

Descartes suggested that we couldnt fully rely on our senses, while assessing surrounding reality: I have seen round towers from afar, which closely observed seemed square, and colossal statues, which appeared tiny when closely viewed. I found error in the external senses, and in the internal (Descartes, Meditation VI). Nevertheless, he also thought that our senses could be usually trusted, for as long as they confirm each. Descartes came to the realization of the fact that it is impossible to acquire an objective empirical knowledge, without involvement of God. This is the weakest point of Descartes philosophy; by using a logical approach he tries to conceal his own irrationality: But after I have recognized that there is a God -- because at the same time I have also recognized that all things depend upon Him, and that He is not a deceiver, and from that have inferred that what I perceive clearly and distinctly cannot fail to be true. (Descartes, Meditation V).

This is rather frivolous assumption; on his part. Many point out that Descartes philosophy goes along with Christian beliefs, providing Christianity with philosophical ground for imposing its outdated views upon great many people. But again, if we to think about it in historical terms, itll come into view that since the beginning its decline as religion, Christianity used to be very little preoccupied with reassessing its doctrine by the mean of philosophy. Some philosophers associate Cartesian dualism with the main principle that modern Christian theology is built upon and with nothing else. But Descartes was also a great mathematician and there is no doubt that he wanted to see his philosophy finding some practical application, rather than just becoming a tool in hands of priests.

Descartes lived in time of metaphysical disillusionment among great many people, since the Copernican planetary system has been proven as correct one. It constituted a huge blow to Christianity. No more people could believe in what they observed with their own eyes and what is most important, they could never trust again their sense of rationale. That is why throughout the 17 th century skeptics were enjoying an immense popularity. Basically, their premise was to deny everything that could be reasonably denied. Even in our days, their main goal is to exploit every mistake, made by the scientists.

Therefore, the philosophy of Descartes was meant to beat skeptics on their own grounds. He denies objectivity to our sensory perceptions, yet he proves at the same time that the understanding of surrounding reality can be obtained through implication of pure logic. Descartes exaggerated a bit when he said that his philosophy is immune to any kind of skepticism. Yet, it is true that it does have a very little weak points, mainly because Descartes was able to think like a skeptic, while working on his doctrine. He indisputably proves the existence of God, but he cannot rationally assign him with emotional properties, therefore, Descartes simply assumes that God simply cannot be a deceiver.

Once skeptics prove that this is not necessarily true, the whole concept of Cartesian Dualism will fall like a card house. This is why we can say that philosophy of Descartes is generally susceptible to skepticism. The European idealism can be traced to George Berkley (1685 - 1753), who suggested that material things do not exist independently of ones mind. He claimed that we cannot really assign the properties of objectivity to our observations of surrounding reality, since these observations are subjective. In the way, idealists sound like Descartes, but they take one step further, denying the reality of an external objects: Colour, figure, motion, extension and the like, considered only as so many sensations in the mind, are perfectly known, there being nothing in them which is not perceived. But if they are looked on as notes or images, referred to things or archetypes existing without the mind, then are we involved all in skepticism.

We see only the appearances, and not the real qualities of things. What may be the extension, figure or motion of any thing really and absolutely, or in itself, it is impossible for us to know, but only the proportion or the relation they bear to our senses In short, extension, figure and motion, abstracted from all other qualities, are inconceivable. Where therefore the other sensible qualities are, there must these be also, that is, in the mind and nowhere else. (Berkeley, p. 85). According to idealists, material objects can only exist as ideas, therefore we can only refer to surrounding reality as real for as long our mind can embrace their sensory significance. The most famous idealists line is: if the essence of things was perceivable in a priori, why dont people perceive them directly, without having to rely on their sensory apparatus? . In regards of Descartes philosophy, idealists say that its major fault is assuming that mind is capable of grasping the true nature of things, given the fact that even an abstract categories that it operates with have a sensory underlining and cannot be thought of as objective, in the full sense of this word.

Idealists admit the possibility that divine mind truly does exist, but then they say that it contains objects as ideas. This presumption leads the idealist to suggest that since there is no materiality outside of divine mind, its independent existence is nothing but an illusion. Since material bodies primary qualities are more properties of ones mind then the attributes of their true essence, matter does not exist. Unlike Descartes, who even before Emanuel Kant came up with the notion of thing in itself, idealists imply the notion of thing in consciousness. In my opinion, idealist criticism of Cartesian Dualism is not quite as convincing as skeptical one. This is because idealists indulge in sophism, while trying to prove their point.

Their theory is an ideal, therefore, it can only prove itself as being the correct one, if applied within the realm of ideal world, which cannot be accomplished. In recent times, the principle of Cartesian Dualism is being the target of criticism from feminists. The apologists of universal equality do not agree with Descartes following thesises: mind operates independently of emotional influences, body and mind have the properties of ontologically opposite categories, people posses free will that is fully autonomous. Judy Butler in her book Gender Trouble says: There is no I who stands behind discourse... The I only comes into being through being called, named, interpolated If identity is asserted through a process of signification, if identity is always already signified, and yet continues to signify as it circulates within various interlocking discourses, then the question of agency is not to be answered through recourse to an I that preexists signification. " (Butler, p. 143). Radical feminists have always been known for having problems with figuring out their own identity, because of excessive amount of testosterone in their blood.

Person only realizes itself through the process of extrapolation, which can only be accomplished if mind operates in logical mode, independently of its emotions. Butler is quite right when she says that the process of inner identification resembles the process of signification. But this is exactly what drives feminists mad - they disagree with Cartesian thesis about minds superiority over its bodily attachment. Womens mode of existence is defined by sexuality alone, while for men, the sex is nothing but a sensual rush, which goes away after being scratched. Even when women talk about politics, art or science somehow they manage to maintain the feeling of sexual tension. Men would never do this, because they can mentally detach themselves from their penises, unlike women.

Therefore, men are only sexual from time to time, which allows them to engage in other activities and gain excellence in them, while women are always sexual. Their whole lives revolve around sex and this is exactly the reason why, according to social surveys, 70 % of women in USA watch soap operas - they correspond to womens inner desires. Women look at the world through lenses of sex. We cannot seriously talk about feminists being able to metaphysically challenge the validity of Cartesian Dualism, since their argument is rather socio-political than philosophical. They apply the notion of gender to the abstract pursuit of higher truth, which is genderless. What makes matter even worse is that they strive for nothing less than a universality of their views.

There is no doubt that Descartes doctrine has many shortcomings. It is no secret that Cartesian Dualism, as method, has fallen out of favor among contemporary philosophers. It is commonly regarded as a bit naive approach to explaining the nature of surrounding reality and mans place in it. But it had never lost its historical value and that is exactly the reason why its being taught in universities.

That is why, this concept cannot be successfully argued with by branding it as politically incorrect, like feminists do. In order for their opinion to have any value, feminists must be able to develop their argument in terms of logical persuasion. Still, this is very hard to imagine, since logic and feminism are simply incompatible. To conclude this paper we need to say that the tendency to overestimate the value of reason is the result of quite illogical quality of whole Western philosophy its concepts are highly idealistic in its core, regardless of whether theyre affected by the religion or not. This is because that at certain point people were able to divert their attention from the immediate needs and to look up to the sky thinking of abstract matters for the first time. It signified the beginning of science and automatically resulted in conceiving of what we now refer to as culture.

This is why, in my opinion, Cartesian Dualism main value is in fact that it attempts to explain the nature of surrounding reality, rather then in its ability to provide actual answers. The same applies to the criticism of Cartesian philosophy. Bibliography: Barry, Sara... Femininity and Domination: Studies in the Phenomenology of Oppression. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1991.

Baier, Arnold "Cartesian Persons in Postures of the Mind, ed. A. Baier. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. 1985. Berkley, George Philosophical Commentaries, edited by George H. Thomas.

Ohio: Alliance, 1976. Butler, Judith Gender trouble. Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. London: Routledge. 1990.

Descartes, Rene Meditations on First Philosophy. Edited by John Cottingham. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996. Hatfield, Gordon The Senses and the Fleshless Eye: The Meditations as Cognitive Exercises. ed. A.

Rorty. Berkeley: University of California Press. 1986.


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Research essay sample on Meditations On First Philosophy Cartesian Dualism

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