Descartes:
Are there any areas of Descartes’ meditations that you would like to review? Are there any left-over questions that you have after our previous class session on Descartes? Are there any aspects of Descartes philosophy that remain unclear or need further explanation?
Is Descartes doing anything of value? Is his method for pursuing philosophical knowledge a good or useful one? Why? How can skepticism be a useful tool for pursuing knowledge? Can you find any faults with Descartes’ arguments or reasoning? Are there any of Descartes claims that seem extreme? Are there any claims that seem sharp or astute?
Mind-Body Problem:
Today we are exploring the mind-body problem. Having been introduced to this “problem” while reading Descartes, we saw that it questions whether humans are a body or a mind. It also questions which is more real: the body of the mind.
What do you think: Are we more of a mind or more of a body? What reasons are there to believe that we are more a body? What reasons are there to believe that we are a mind? Are humans both body and mind and one cannot determine what we really are? Which is more real: the body or the mind? Use examples and think of what we have previously read!
Freedom vs. Determinism:
Today we are exploring another classic problem in the history of western philosophy: free will vs. determinism.
Do you think we are always free, rarely free, or never free? And why? What evidence do you have to support your claims? Is it better to think that we are free even if we cannot prove that we are free? Why or why not? Did you come to class today on your own free will? Are there are factors that coerced you into coming to class today?