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Works Cited
"Discourse on the Method"
Descartes, 1637. "Principles of Philosophy"
Descartes, 1644 -
The Mind-Body Problem
Also in his 1637 work "Discourse on the Method", Descartes expounded upon his ideology of consciousness. This is his attempt to define consciousness as part of the mind, as being self-aware; but that of being separate from the brain - the physical vessel of the mind. He argues that he can doubt the existence of his body, that is to say, divine another method of explaining it, though the same cannot be said for his mind. -
The process of human knowledge
In his 1637 work “Discourse on the Method”, René Descartes outlined four basic principles of gaining knowledge. He held a high acceptance rate for his ideas, and only the most clear and distinct of those ideas would constitute as the building blocks for knowledge. This rule, combined with the other three, define his mathematical approach to life and philosophy. His set of rules summarize his description as a Rationalist. -
The Principals of Philosophy
In Descartes's "Principals of Philosophy" of 1644, he is perhaps made famous for his most rational of expressions “I think, therefore I am”. Which he argued expelled all doubt in the existence of himself. He was conscious, had thoughts, and feelings; therefore, he existed in the world. This to me sounds much like the argument that knowledge through experience is the path of scientific thought, and Empiricist aim; which Descartes opposed, but perhaps I don’t fully understand it myself. -
The Mind-Body Problem Continued
For years after Descartes's death in 1650, philosophers were challenged by the mind-body problem. Years have been spent trying to discern how the mind influences the body, and vise versa. Descartes himself gave examples in his argument of how the two influenced each other, though he defined them as separate entities, but he had little evidence to back his claims.
