Philosophy Study Questions For Exam
1.
Explain how Descartes uses dreams to show that knowledge based on sense perception is unreliable.
2.
What is the significance of the foundation metaphor that Descartes uses in the first meditations
3.
What is the first thing Descartes claims to know? Why could not a deceiver deceive
Descartes about this?
4.
Explain why Descartes believes that he can know his own nature without knowing anything about the physical world
5.
Explain the first argument for God’s existence in Meditation 3. Be sure to include in your answer explanation of what “objective reality” and “formal reality” mean in
Descartes argument. Do you believe the argument is a good one? Why or why not?
6.
Explain the problem of error that Descartes discusses in Meditation 4. How does
Descartes attempt to get around this problem?
7.
Explain and critically evaluate the ontological argument for God’s existence (this is found in Meditation 5)
8 What is substance dualism? How does Descartes argue for substance dualism using premises from meditation 2 and 5 (explain how he argued for these premises) This is the argument on page 96 of our text, that begins, “First, I know all things that I clearly and distinctly..”