Philosophy 2202F/G Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Evil Demon, Michel De Montaigne, Omnipotence
19 Jan 2017
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
2202g - early modern philosophy january 19, 2017. Descartes continued tearing down the house of knowledge. The evil demon can infiltrate your mind and feed you false beliefs (and you would not be able to tell that this was occurring) Descartes second meditation trying to rebuild the house of knowledge. Survives the dream doubt: there has to be a dreamer in order to have a dream. Survives the evil demon doubt: there has to be someone that is the victim of being fooled by the evil demon. There is one truth; the truth that i exist. Part of the process of rebuilding the foundation, not the foundation itself (this happens in the third meditation) helps cement the third mediation. What is an essence: a property that is impossible for a thing to lack while still being that thing; a property necessary for the existence of the thing. Montaigne addresses this problem in the anthropic conceit (attacks the concept of essence)
