PHIL 11001 Lennox Discourse on Method Background Descartes 1596 1650 Discourse on Method Part 1 Considered the Father of Modern Philosophy Scientist Mathematician and Philosopher Said the people act on what they believe to be true But on what do people base their beliefs Reason means to judge well and distinguish the true from the false pg 1 It is not enough to have a good mind the main thing is to apply it well Maxim means a guiding rule or principle pg 1 Goal of Discourse Show what I have done to improve my reasoning so that others can evaluate it My goal is not to tell others what to do just to show what I have done pg 2 When I was traveling I found that those whose decisions mattered for their livelihood seemed to use their reason better than those who simply speculated about things pg 6 What I wanted to learn Distinguish the true from the false To see my way clearly in my actions To go forward with confidence in this life Part 2 Project Get rid of old opinions beliefs and replace them with well reasoned opinions or the same opinion if they prove to be well reasoned pg 8 Method Go very slowly and purposefully and carefully to avoid making mistakes pg 10 Four Rules for Thinking pg 11 judgment and prejudice 1 Never accept anything as truth that I did not plainly know to be true carefully avoid hasty 2 Divide difficulties into smaller parts 3 Conduct my thoughts in an orderly fashion starting with simplest and easiest to know 4 Make lists and review to be sure nothing is missed Part 3 Four Maxims rules for living 1 Obey laws and customs of my country a And among many opinions only choose the most moderate meaning do what most people do keep to the middle of the road 2 Be firm and resolute in my actions and to follow through on even doubtful opinions in order to know with certainty if they are true or false 3 Focus on changing myself rather than the world 4 Review the various occupations and choose the best one for him Descartes Part 4 Part 5 Our senses sometimes deceive us o What if we can never trust our senses I chose to assume that those things I believed were true based on what my senses told me were in fact false I imagined that everything around me was a dream or illusion I discovered that one truth remained o I am a thinking thing I exist This idea could serve as my first foundation as my first principle Descartes uses a heart as an example and speculates how it works based on careful observation and use of the tools of thinking that he has developed Descartes compares the human body to a machines and thinks that no machine will ever be able to emulate a human completely Part 6 Main points for Part 6 1 Descartes wants to replace speculative philosophy with practical philosophy pg 35 a Practical philosophy applied philosophy What should we do if we want to be good philosophers 2 Call to Science pg 35 a Science is a public enterprise and a public good i Scientific discoveries should be shared ii Science is about dialog not just discovery 3 The spirit of philosophy is inquiry inquiry has to start with humility a recognition of what we do not know and a willingness to learn pg 37 a Truth is more important than winning arguments or being right pg 39 4 Criticism of contemporary philosophy philosophers pg 39 a There is more to philosophy than Aristotle b We as philosophers must move forward
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