Wk III DISCUSSION         HSTEU302                 

René Descartes, Discourse on Method 1637

Some questions to consider for class discussion

1.  Why does Descartes begin his Discourse with an autobiography?
    How did his past experiences affect his outlook and philosophy?
    What does this autobiography tell you about the educational
    and cultural environment of 17^th century France?

2.  What is Descartes’ attitude towards differing customs or traditions?
    What did he learn from his travels?  Does Descartes seem open
    to or willing to accept cultural or political pluralism?

3.  Why is mathematics so important to Descartes?

4.  What does Descartes mean by clear and distinct ideas? 
    What is his model for this kind of certainty? 

5.  What is the relationship between mind and body for Descartes?

6.  Why does Descartes undertake his project of systematic doubt?
    What disclaimers or caveats does he set forth first?

7.  Having doubted everything, how does he prove his own existence?
     How does Descartes get from his own existence back to accepting
     the reality of the external world?

8.  What makes humans unique and difference from other forms of life,
    such as animals?

9.  What is the connection between reason and empirical observation
    for Descartes?  Which is more central and more certain? 

10. What is deductive reasoning, and how does Descartes differ from Bacon,
     Locke and the English empirical tradition discussed in Thursday lecture?

Here are some basic philosophical terms from lecture, some of which
are included in laurence Lafleur’s introduction to Descartes.  What role do each
of these categories and terms play in Descartes methodology and philosophy?

Ontology
Epistemology
Empiricism
Reason or Rationalism
Deduction
Induction
Cartesian dualism
Materialism
Idealism