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Single Idea 24034
[filed under theme 12. Knowledge Sources / D. Empiricism / 5. Empiricism Critique
]
Full Idea
Let there be a man who has sometimes seen the fundamental colours, and never the intermediate and mixed colours; it may be that by a sort of deduction he will represent those he has not seen, by their resemblance to the others.
Gist of Idea
If someone had only seen the basic colours, they could deduce the others from resemblance
Source
René Descartes (Rules for the Direction of the Mind [1628], 14)
Book Ref
Descartes,René: 'Rules for the Direction of the Mind' [Newcomb Library 2023], p.49
A Reaction
Thus Descartes solved Hume's shade of blue problem, by means of 'a sort of deduction' from resemblance, where Hume was paralysed by his need to actually experience it. Dogmatic empiricism is a false doctrine!
Related Idea
Idea 23421
If a person had a gap in their experience of blue shades, they could imaginatively fill it in [Hume]
The
19 ideas
from 'Rules for the Direction of the Mind'
24018
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One truth leads us to another
[Descartes]
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24019
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If we accept mere probabilities as true we undermine our existing knowledge
[Descartes]
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24020
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We all see intuitively that we exist, where intuition is attentive, clear and distinct rational understanding
[Descartes]
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24022
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Our souls possess divine seeds of knowledge, which can bear spontaneous fruit
[Descartes]
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24021
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The method starts with clear intuitions, followed by a process of deduction
[Descartes]
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24023
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All the sciences searching for order and measure are related to mathematics
[Descartes]
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24024
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The secret of the method is to recognise which thing in a series is the simplest
[Descartes]
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24025
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Clear and distinct truths must be known all at once (unlike deductions)
[Descartes]
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24029
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Among the simples are the graspable negations, such as rest and instants
[Descartes]
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24030
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3+4=7 is necessary because we cannot conceive of seven without including three and four
[Descartes]
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24032
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Clever scholars can obscure things which are obvious even to peasants
[Descartes]
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24027
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Nerves and movement originate in the brain, where imagination moves them
[Descartes]
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24026
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Our four knowledge faculties are intelligence, imagination, the senses, and memory
[Descartes]
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24028
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The force by which we know things is spiritual, and quite distinct from the body
[Descartes]
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24031
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When Socrates doubts, he know he doubts, and that truth is possible
[Descartes]
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24033
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Most scholastic disputes concern words, where agreeing on meanings would settle them
[Descartes]
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24036
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I can only see the proportion of two to three if there is a common measure - their unity
[Descartes]
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24035
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Unity is something shared by many things, so in that respect they are equals
[Descartes]
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24034
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If someone had only seen the basic colours, they could deduce the others from resemblance
[Descartes]
|