Monday, February 18, 2008
Med 5
Meditation 5 from my perspective felt like repetition of the discourse. However, I pulled out some points i think Descartes was trying to get across: Comparing God to the knowledge of math, Knowledge of God & knowledge of math are clear and distinct, there is no physical evidence of God (unlike math), God is only an idea that is passed down through belief and teaching? At the end of the meditation he has a set foundation of mathematical and scientific knowledge, "But now it is possible for me to achieve full and certain knowledge about countless things, both about God and other intellectual things (math & sciences), as well as about the entirety of that corporeal nature which is the object of pure mathematics"(p 92). I think Descartes is trying to push God aside and give mathematics and sciences a chance. He doesn't assert his view, probably due to the fact of getting killed for thinking such thoughts. Just my 2 cents.
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Yeah, this is one point of view. I actually took the opposing view to this one. I think Descartes is trying to prove God's existence by using mathematics and science. In my opinion, since Descartes knew mathematics and science to be true, he was trying to use this knowledge and apply it to God's existence. I really think he believed in God, but since he had a "mathematical mind" he felt the need to prove it. (Believing or faith wasn't enough for Descartes...he needed to prove it...although the proof he provided is a far cry from hard evidence). Anyway, who knows what Descartes was really thinking. I guess we will never know :). By the way, I agree with you that Meditation 5 had alot of the same concepts in the Discourse.
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