Ideas from 'A Discourse on Method' by René Descartes [1637], by Theme Structure
[found in 'Discourse on Method/The Meditations' by Descartes,René (ed/tr Sutcliffe,F.E.) [Penguin 1968,0-14-044206-5]].
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1. Philosophy / D. Nature of Philosophy / 1. Philosophy
3600
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Slow and accurate thought makes the greatest progress
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1. Philosophy / D. Nature of Philosophy / 7. Despair over Philosophy
3601
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Most things in human life seem vain and useless
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3602
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Almost every daft idea has been expressed by some philosopher
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2. Reason / A. Nature of Reason / 4. Aims of Reason
3603
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Methodical thinking is cautious, analytical, systematic, and panoramic [PG]
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2. Reason / F. Fallacies / 4. Circularity
3612
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Clear and distinct conceptions are true because a perfect God exists
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3. Truth / A. Truth Problems / 8. Subjective Truth
3610
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Truth is clear and distinct conception - of which it is hard to be sure
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11. Knowledge Aims / A. Knowledge / 4. Belief / a. Beliefs
3605
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We can believe a thing without knowing we believe it
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11. Knowledge Aims / B. Certain Knowledge / 1. Certainty
1583
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In morals Descartes accepts the conventional, but rejects it in epistemology [Roochnik]
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11. Knowledge Aims / B. Certain Knowledge / 4. The Cogito
3607
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In thinking everything else false, my own existence remains totally certain
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12. Knowledge Sources / A. A Priori Knowledge / 6. A Priori from Reason
3617
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I aim to find the principles and causes of everything, using the seeds within my mind
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12. Knowledge Sources / C. Rationalism / 1. Rationalism
3611
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Understanding, rather than imagination or senses, gives knowledge
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13. Knowledge Criteria / B. Internal Justification / 4. Foundationalism / a. Foundationalism
3606
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I was searching for reliable rock under the shifting sand
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13. Knowledge Criteria / D. Scepticism / 6. Scepticism Critique
3604
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When rebuilding a house, one needs alternative lodgings
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14. Science / A. Basis of Science / 3. Experiment
3618
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Only experiments can settle disagreements between rival explanations
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15. Nature of Minds / A. Nature of Mind / 7. Animal Minds
3615
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Little reason is needed to speak, so animals have no reason at all
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16. Persons / B. Nature of the Self / 3. Self as Non-physical
3609
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I am a thinking substance, which doesn't need a place or material support
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17. Mind and Body / A. Mind-Body Dualism / 1. Dualism
3608
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I can deny my body and the world, but not my own existence
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3613
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Reason is universal in its responses, but a physical machine is constrained by its organs
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17. Mind and Body / A. Mind-Body Dualism / 2. Interactionism
3616
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The soul must unite with the body to have appetites and sensations
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18. Thought / B. Mechanics of Thought / 6. Artificial Thought / c. Turing Test
3614
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A machine could speak in response to physical stimulus, but not hold a conversation
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23. Ethics / C. Virtue Theory / 1. Virtue Theory / d. Virtue theory critique
1581
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Greeks elevate virtues enormously, but never explain them
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26. Natural Theory / D. Laws of Nature / 7. Strictness of Laws
16686
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God has established laws throughout nature, and implanted ideas of them within us
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