DESCARTES'S MEDITATIONS

A. Descartes (1596-1650)

B. The MEDITATIONS
    1. Project
    2. Goal
    3. Method
    4. Discovery of Premises

C. Dreaming Argument

D. Evil Genius Argument

E. The Cogito
    1. Descartes's dialogue with himself
    2. The Cogito argument: Cogito ergo sum

F. The Mind and its contents
    1. One thing is certain: I exist
    2. What else is certain?
    3. I'm a thinking thing: Sum res cogitans
    4. I'm having these thoughts
    5. Mind versus body
    6. Sensory versus mental perception

G. The Truth Rule: Clarity and Distinctness

H. Cosmological Argument
    1. Ideas
    2. God
    3. Causes
    4. Reality
    5. Formal and Objective Reality

I. Proof of the Truth Rule
    1. God himself does nothing bad
    2. God would not allow an evil genius ...

J. The Ontological Argument
    1. The idea of God
    2. Perfection
    3. Existence

K. Argument for the Existence of Bodies

L. First Argument for Mind-Body Distinctness

M. Comments on the argument
    1. My mind vs. myself
    2. Mind vs. soul; Descartes vs. Plato
    3. Distinctness vs. difference
        a. "I can think of x without thinking of y"
        b. "I can think of x existing apart from y"

N. Second Argument for Mind-Body Distinctness

O. Cartesian Dualism
    1. Mind-body interaction
    2. Mind-body union
        a. Not merely like "a sailor in a ship"
        b. A man is "one single thing"
             i. a compound thing
            ii. one molecule vs. two atoms