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« Mary Warnock on the Right to Have Babies on Ethics Bites | Main | Michael Otsuka on Double Effect on Ethics Bites »

February 23, 2008

Comments

claudia

i found it very interesting and informing to listen to the talk with mr. Grayling. it made the work of Descartes alot clearer to me! thank you

Chris Lynch

Look, the Cogito is a very confusing proposition. Is it an argument? Probably. It's not in sound sylllogistic form, but it is asserting something; it's making a claim. Is it analytic? Is it synthetic? If analytic, this implies more than simply the concept of 'thought' can be reduced to get to 'existence'. Instead, what is implied is that there is something substantive within this 'thought' concept - despite Descartes' investigation supposedly starting from emptiness. This gives Descartes' rationalist method a very mysterious edge. If synthetic, the experience of 'thought' is allowed for, but what are we to make of my sensory experiences being deceived by the Evil Demon? Whatever happens, the Cogito is far from a clear firm foothold of certainty.

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