Thursday, March 17, 2011

Renaissance to Descartes (2)



PW 69-75

1. Who was burnt at the stake in 1600 for supporting heliocentrism, and who was forced to recant it? When did the Catholic Church acknowledge its truth?

2. What was the "shocking" central insight of the new humanism? Who first  formulated the "scientific method"? What are its main components? How did he differ with Aristotle?

3. What kind of world did Thomas Hobbes say we live in? What did he mean by a "state of nature"? How did he think we could escape it? How did Hobbes and Machiavelli differ with Aristotle?

4. Who was the first "modern" philosopher to emphasize subjectivity as the road to objective knowledge? Which French philosopher of this period was a skeptic, dubious that humans are capable of achieving objective knowledge and truth? What did he see as the positive benefit of denying ultimate objectivity?

5. What result did Descartes hope to gain from his method of doubt? Why is "I think therefore I am" an important premise in his philosophy? How does he "know" there's no "evil genius" deceiving him?

6. Why was Descartes' emphasis on subjectivity so important? What is Cartesian dualism? Why did he want to keep mind and body separate?

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