Meditation II Homework

作業繳交期限為十一月十八號24:00之前 請交至文學院四樓助教胡映群信箱
Exercise 2.1
Label each of the following statements consistent(C) or inconsistent(I) with idea Descartes presents in the first two paragraphs of Meditation II.
1. There is a way to defeat the evil demon.
2. The doubts from Meditation I remain.
3. The only certainty may be that there us no certainty.
4. Concepts that can be partially doubted should be treated different from concepts that can be entirely doubted.
5. Descartes, unlike Archimedes, will need to find more than one indubitalbe truth.

Exercise 2.2
Label each of the following statements consistent(C) or inconsistent(I) with idea Descartes presents in the paragraphs 3 of Meditation II.
1. If Descartes denies that he has senses and a body, then he can't prove that he exists.
2. Descartes proves that God exists.
3. The deceiver could not deceive Descartes into believing he, Descartes, does not exist.
4. Even if there is no physical world, it does not follow that Descartes' minf does not exist.
5. Descartes prove that he exist.

Exercise 2.3
Number the following ideas in the order in which Descartes introduces them in Meditation II.
a. He examines the wax with his sense.
b. He knows for certain that he exists.
c. He notes that his mind, rather than his senses, understands the wax clearly.
d. He assumes that he knows nothing for certain.
e. He realizes that his imagination cannot make an accurate mental picture of all the possible shapes that the wax could take.
f. He is a thinking thing.

Exercise 2.4
One benefit studying Descartes is learning how to reason more effectively. He often uses example to make a point. Briefly answer the questions that follow each of Descartes' example.
1. "Archimedes required only one fixed and immovable point to more the whole earth from its place, and I too can hope for great things if I can find even one small thing that is certain and unshakable."
a. Archimedes is being compared to?
b. "One fixed and immovable point" is being compared to ?
c. Moving "the whole earth from its place" is being compared to?
d. The point of this analogy is?

2."Let's consider hte things commonly taken to be the most distinctly comprehended: physical objects that we see and touch. Let's not consider physical objects in general, since general conceptions are very often confused. Rather, let's consider one particular object. Take, for example, this piece of wax."
a. "distinctly comprehended" means?
b. An example of a "general conception" might be?
c. The goal in examining the wax is to find out about what?
d. The wax is an example of what?

3."But, if I happen to look out my window and see man walking in the street, I naturally say that I see the men just as I say that I see the wax. What do I really see, however, but hats and coats that could be covering robots? I judge that there are men. Thus I comprehend with my judgement, which is in my mind, obejcts that I once believed myself to see with my eyes."
a. The error Descartes believes he makes when he says he "see" the men and the wax is?
b. What is the purpose of mentioning "robot"?
c. What general point is Descartes making about his senses?
d. What general point is Descartes making about judgment?
e. What causes errors of the type described in this example?
f. What does the last sentence conclude?
g. What evidence is offered for the conclusion in the last sentence?

Meditation I Homework

Exercise 1.1
1. He must show each of his beliefs to be false.
2. It is not possible to achieve certainty about anything.
3. His beliefs have a doubtful, shaky foundation.
4. He should treat beliefs that are slightly doubtful the same as beliefs that are completely doubtful.
5. He will begin by attacking his "foundational" beleifs.
6. All knowledge appears to come through the senses.


Exercise 1.2
a. He might be like a madman.
b. He needs to attack the foundations of his beleifs.
c. He imagines he is dreaming.
d. He asserts that all he has learned has come from his senses.
e. He imagines an evil demon who is fooling him all the time.
f. He does not beleive he can tell dreaming from waking.
g. He remembers that his senses occasionally deceive him about objects they cannot perceive clearly.
h. He believes God might be deceiving him about even obvious concepts, such as simple mathemtical truths.
i. Whether he is asleep or awake, he can know simple mathematical truths.
j. His dreams must be copies of something real.

笛卡爾 課程簡介

課程名稱(中文) 笛卡爾
課程名稱(英文) Descartes
授 課 教 師: 侯維之
修　別:專選
學分數:2
上課時間：[星期四] 十點十分至十二點
助教：胡映群
上課地點：文學院140室

教 學 目 標: 本課程教授Descartes的Meditations on First Philosophy。根據當代分析哲學，帶領學生研讀瞭解其中重要的概念與論證。

授 課 綱 要
本課程由教育部中綱計畫「經典教學計畫」補助，將由博士班胡映群擔任助教，教材費用亦由計畫經費支附。
檢視Descartes在Meditation I一開始所思考的確切性（certainty），究竟是知識上的或是形上學上的確切性（epistemic or metaphysical certainty），其所謂的必然性係指那一種必然性（logical, physical, conceptual, epistemic, or metaphysical necessity）？以及其對天生觀念（innate idea）與心物二元的說明與論證。
研讀教學時程依照原文順序，教學除講授解說教材，使學生能明確掌握笛卡爾哲學概念外，更注重其論證結構。由於教科書本身即設計有各項作業，將安排上課時間討論報告。

課 程 進 度
第一週：笛卡爾概述與簡介「Meditation on First Philosophy」。
第二週：Meditation I,「On What Can Be Called into Doubt」。
第三週：Meditation I,參考書目補充資料「Withdrawing the Mind from the Senses」。
第四週：Meditation I, 總結與作業報告討論。
第五週：Meditation II,「On the Nature of the Human Mind, Which Is Better Known Than the Body」。
第六週：Meditation II, 「Discovery the Nature of Mind」。
第七週：Meditation II, 總結與作業報告討論。
第八週：期中考。
第九週：Meditation III, 「On God’s Existence」。
第十週：Meditation III,「Truth, God, and the Circle」。
總結與作業報告討論。
第十一週：Meditation IV, 「On Truth and Falsity」。
第十二週：Meditation IV,「Judgment, Error, and Freedom」。
總結與作業報告討論。
第十三週：Meditation V, 「On the Essence of Material Objects and More on God’s Existence」。
第十四週：Meditation V,「Matter, God, and the Circle Again」。
總結與作業報告討論。
第十五週：Meditation VI,「On the Existence of Material Objects and the Real Distinction of Mind from Body」。
第十六週：Meditation VI,「The Natural World and the Mind-Body Relation」。
總結與作業報告討論。
第十七週：全書回顧與總結。
第十八週：期末考。

教 科 書 及參 考 書 目 Text Book:
Rubin Ronald, 2001, A Guided Tour of Rene Descartes’ Meditations on First Philosophy, Mayfield Publishing Company.（本書包含全部Meditations on First Philosophy）

參考書籍：
Hatfield Gary, 2003, Descartes and the Meditations, Routledge.
Francks Richard, 2008, Descartes’ Meditations, Continuum.
評 量 方 式 期中考35%，期末考40%，作業15%，出席10%。
選修課程隸屬領域：古典與當代重要哲學家（或專題）