Tuesday, May 12, 2020

The Dream Argument by Rene Descartes Essay - 1008 Words

One of Rene Descartes’s most famous arguments, from his not only from his first meditation but all of the meditations, is his Dream Argument. Descartes believes that there is no way to be able to distinguish being in awake from being in a state of dreaming. In fact you could actually be in a dream right now. Rene Descartes’s theory that one is unable distinguish being awake from dreaming, as interesting as it is, can be at times a little farfetched, along with a few contradictions to himself, Descartes’s dream argument does not entitle himself to any sort of claim. Descartes wrote the Meditations on First Philosophy were first published in the year 1641 in Latin. There are six total Meditations that Descartes had written. One thing that†¦show more content†¦It is deception from the sense that causes this mistrust for Descartes and brings forth the Dream Argument. The human senses as well feel very real, just as they do in reality, and this is one of the first things that have Descartes question the differences between being awake and dream. Due to the trust issues it he becomes unsure of whether he is dreaming or not. When it comes to dreaming Descartes thinks that there could possibility that some certain God that may have easily deceived him in falsely believing in things could appear to be correct but are not. However Descartes says that it God is described as a supremely good being (Descartes, 21). God has always been a being that is worshiped and why would so many people worship an evil God if he brings no positives to their lives . Descartes however is not 100 percent positive on whether God is being deceptive or not being deceptive. James Hill says that â€Å"[the] key move that Descartes then makes is to highlight the lack of insight one has into one’s condition when dreaming. It is this lack of insight, and Descartes’ way of interpreting it, which forms the backbone of the dreaming argument† (Hill, 2). To shorten that down, the minimal explanations to why and how dreams occur is the foundation for Descartes’s Dream Argument. The main idea of Descartes is that there is no difference between being awake and dreaming. Descartes says there are no definite signs to differ dreaming from being awake. You could be possiblyShow MoreRelatedDescartes : The Father Of Modern Philosophy1055 Words   |  5 Pagesthe fact that I am something.† (Descartes, â€Å"Meditations on First Philosophy,† 182) Rene Descartes is widely considered the father of modern philosophy. He created many new ideas about the self, which is something that has been contested since the dawn of philosophy. Even now, the world is nowhere near a unified thought on the soul. 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