Descartes’ discussion of dreams can be read as containing th…
Descartes’ discussion of dreams can be read as containing the following argument: 1. If I am certain that I am now sitting before the fire, in my dressing gown, with paper in my hands, and so on, then I am certain that I am not now dreaming. 2. I am not certain that I am not now dreaming. So, I am not certain that I am now sitting before the fire, in my dressing gown, with paper in my hands, and so on. Put this way, is the argument valid?
Read DetailsThe claims made in that one sentence are: (a) All that up to…
The claims made in that one sentence are: (a) All that up to the present time I have accepted as most true and certain I have learned either from the senses or through the senses; (b) It is sometimes proved to me that these senses are deceptive; and (c) It is wiser not to trust entirely to anything by which we have once been deceived. The conclusion of the argument made in this paragraph is left unstated. It is something like: the senses should not be trusted. Two of the three statements work together to support this conclusion. Which two?
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