PHILOS 1A03 Lecture Notes - Blaise Pascal, Natural Philosophy, Stoicism
Document Summary
Therefore, press doubt as far as it can be, and anything that is discovered to be indubitable must be counted as knowledge. Knowledge: requires certainty; a clear, distinct, irrefutable judgment. The senses are uncertain (evidence of dreams and illusions) Reasoning can be doubted (the argument about god and the possibility of error) The cogito the thought i am, i exist cannot be false whenever one thinks it. Cogito ergo sum why is this significant: proves that knowledge is possible in principle, provides a test or criterion of truth. A clear and distinct idea (like the cogito) is true. Mind (soul, thought, consciousness) is an immaterial substance whose essence it is to think (a res cogitans, a thinking thing). Essence of matter is spatial extension, determinate spatial measure. Implications of this concept of the essence of matter: Primary: qualities all bodies share just as bodies: shape, size, weight, and so on.