Philosophy 322                                                                          Name _____________

Homework 1: Due Monday April 7
Submit electronically by 9am

 

Consider the following passage from page 45:

What I believe must be considered above all here is the fact that I find within me countless ideas of certain things, that, even if perhaps they do not exist anywhere outside me, still cannot be said to be nothing. And although, in a sense, I think them at will, nevertheless they are not something I have fabricated; rather they have their own true and immutable natures. For example, when I imagine a triangle, even if perhaps no such figure exists outside my thought anywhere in the world and never has, the triangle still has a certain determinate nature, essence, or form which is unchangeable and eternal, which I did not fabricate, and which does not depend on my mind. This is evident from the fact that various properties can be demonstrated regarding this triangle: namely, . . .

 

It is irrelevant for me to say that perhaps the idea of a triangle came to me from external things through the sense organs because of course I have on occasion seen triangle-shaped bodies..

1. Briefly state as clearly and as concisely as you can the aspect of the view in the first paragraph that is relevant to the objection suggested in the second paragraph.

2. Briefly state the objection suggested in the second paragraph.

3. Explain Descartes' response to that objection.

4. Evaluate his response.