Intuition and deduction Thesis

Subdecks (3)

Cards (86)

  • Decartes, Plato and Leibniz believe that you have a form of innate understanding
  • Inductive reasoning
    if the premises are all true, the conclusion is likely to be true
  • deductive reasoning
    if the premises are all true, the conlusion must be true
  • Inductive reasoning moves from specific cases and applies them to general ones
  • deductive reasoning is a type of reasoning that starts with a general statement and then works backwards to a specific conclusion. This ensures certainty within argument.
  • deduction and intuition are specific, "God-given", faculties of the mind. They enable one to discover certain truths
  • Decartes reasons inductively in order to establish certainty
  • intueri

    to consider
  • intuition
    the immediate and direct apprehension of truth
  • intuition is an intellectual capacity
  • cogito
    "i think therefore i am"
  • intuition is an immediate insight into truth
  • "intuition is the indubitable conception of a pure and attentive mind, which arises from the light of reason alone"
  • one knows intuitively that black is not white
  • deduction is the ability to follow on from the intuitively acquired truth
  • deduction is the way in which a series of intuitions are connected to lead to self-evident truth
  • Decartes aims to eliminate doubt from the concept of knowledge
  • Decartes believes that God and the faculties of the mind are innate
  • Outline the induction and deduction thesis
    1. Theory of how knowledge is gained
    2. Uses reason
    3. How?
  • Decartes aims to eliminate doubt so he tries to prove truth with certainty. As a result, his arguments are structured deductively, allowing his conclusions(provided the premises are true) to be certain
  • To arrive at certainty, one must rely on reason rather than sensory experiences
  • Empiriscists differ with Decartes on the notion that synthetic truths can be certain, as certainty cannot come as a result of sensory experience
  • Decartes believes that God and the faculties of the mind are innate
  • truths can be derived from intuition and deduction
  • Intuition and knowledge are distinct
  • Indubitable
    without doubt
  • Intuition is the direct apprehension of truth; grasping what is true. Deduction is the ability to follow on from the intuitively acquired truth and connect truths together
  • infallaiblism
    must be unmistaken of ones true belief - eliminates doubt through certainty
  • infalliablism leads to scepticism
  • Truths that Decartes knows
    I exist
    God exists
    The external world exists
  • Decartes supports infallablism
  • intuition and deduction is a type of knowing that is infallible
  • Decartes experiences 3 waves of doubt
  • " I must avoid believing things which are not certain and indubitable" - Rene Decartes
  • 1st wave of Doubt
    The senses can decieve us( therefore we should not entirely rely on them as a source of truth and certainty) - questions things hard to sense
  • 2nd Wave of Doubt

    This could all be a dream - there is no way of telling if one is awake - questioning reality
  • 3rd Wave of Doubt
    There could be a decieving demon that spends all his time decieveing me - could implant thoughts into his head - questions undoubtable thoughts
  • Clear and distinct ideas
    Indubitable
    Certain self justifying
  • If ideas are distinct they cannot be confused with others
  • Clear and distinct ideas are known a priori through reason alone