THE RATIONALISM OF DESCARTES

René Descartes (1596-1650) was a French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist who is widely considered one of the most important of the Rationalist philosophers. His work marked a significant departure from mediaeval thought, emphasising the role of reason and individual inquiry.

It’s worth noting that a lot of the work of Descartes is based on the assumptions and beliefs of his time which we may not now share. Nevertheless I think it’s worth approaching his ideas with an open and positive mindset and in that sense we must, during the discussion, take his thoughts in the context of his time and contribution to the development of philosophy.

As an introduction to Descartes the following video explains many of the topics we will discuss: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ba9-sCXRC-E

(As an interesting aside, Bryan Magee was a member of parliament - how far the quality of thought in public life seems to have fallen since the 1980s!)

I have prepared a paper in which I attempt to summarise the main points of the two most significant books written by Descartes. Questions are embedded in the document and repeated below: Notes On Descartes.

Q1: Should we doubt our own senses, and what is left - if anything - if we do?
Q2: Could we imagine that we are in fact not thinking entities at all? So perhaps in fact we have no thoughts but are simply experiencing the thoughts of the universe or some other process? Or could we be dreaming that we are thinking? To what extent do we agree with his “I think, therefore I am” conclusion?
Q3: If there is such an Evil Demon is there anything he could not deceive us about? To what extent do the arguments of Descartes rely on the idea of a benevolent, omnipotent God?
Q4: I have chosen not to dwell too long on the question of the existence of God as raised by Descartes, but we might simply want to consider if his “the lessor cannot give rise to the greater” argument makes sense (this is best explained in the video).
Q5: We may well dismiss the ideas of Descartes and the presumption of the existence of a perfect being, but nevertheless we may question: from where do we get our apparently innate need of God, and why is he portrayed as a perfect, benevolent being?
Q6: How successful do we judge his arguments to be and to what extent has he used (as suggested by Bryan Magee in the video) a conjuring trick?
Q7: To what extent do we agree with the clear distinction between body and mind that Descartes proposes? One argument may be that his concept of the mind does not allow it to be investigated in any way.
Q8: Is dualism, as conceived by Descartes, compatible with evolution? When did the mind evolve?

CONDUCT OF DISCUSSION
We try to allow the conversation to flow. However, please adhere to the following:
- Please be respectful of others during the Meetup.
- If you would like to raise a point but feel that you have difficulty in being heard, please raise your hand and the person who is leading the discussion will ask you to speak when there is a natural pause;
- Try not to talk over others;
- Speak concisely and to the point of the subject.