Meditations 5 & 6 And Descartes Death

Meditation V God has to exists. “…because I cannot conceive anything but God to whose essence existence necessarily pertains..” Everything I conceive of clearly and distinctly is true. God is true, he is not a deceiver. “Now that I know him, I have the means of acquiring a perfect knowledge of many things.” The external world exists, I know it by the senses God has provided for me. (Emp. Back

Meditation VI: Of the Existence of Material Things and the real distinction between the Soul and Body of Man. Nature teaches me by the sensations of pain, hunger, thirst, etc. That I am not merely lodged in my body as a pilot in a ship, but that I am so closely united to it that I seem to compose with it one whole.

Meditation VI For if that were not the case , when my body is hurt, I, the thinking thing, should not feel pain, but would perceive the wound just as the sailor perceives something damaged in this vessel. For all these sensations of hunger, thirst, pain, etc. are in truth just confused modes of thought produced by the apparent intermingling of mind and body.

Meditation VI There is a great difference between mind and body, as body is by nature always divisible, and the mind is indivisible. Notwithstanding the supreme goodness of God, the nature of man, composed of mind and body, can sometimes be a source of deception.

Meditation VI But because the exigencies of action often oblige us to make up our minds before having leisure to examine matters carefully, we must confess that the life of man is frequently subject to error. We must in the end acknowledge the infirmity of our nature. [Back to Meditation VI ] .

In his letter of dedication in his Meditation on First Philosophy… (Read Descartes’ Letter of Dedication: Remind students of the History behind it)

God: Rationalism (Letter form Descartes to Mersenne on April 15, 1630) “I would not allow myself in my physics to touch upon metaphysical questions, and particularly this one” that mathematical truths, which you call eternal, have been established by God and depend entirely on him, as does the rest of all creation.

God:Rationalism (cont.) Do not worry at all, I beg of you, about assuring and publishing everywhere that it is God who has established these laws of nature, in the same way that a king establishes the laws of his realm. Now there is nothing at all that we are unable to comprehend, if our spirit inclines us to consider it, and all of these truths are innate in our spirit, in the same way that a king imprints his laws I the hearts of his subjects, if he has the power to do so.” (Descartes Secret Notebook: pg. 139)

In his letter of dedication in his Meditation on First Philosophy… Descartes offered to contemporary theologians his proofs of the existence of God and the immortality of the human soul. This explicit concern for religious matters does not reflect any loss of interest in pursuing the goals of science.

In his letter of dedication in his Meditation on First Philosophy. By sharply distinguishing the mind from body, Descartes hoped to preserve a distinct arena for the church while securing the freedom of scientists to develop mechanistic accounts of physical phenomena.

In his letter of dedication in his Meditation on First Philosophy. In this way, he supposed it possible to satisfy the requirements of Christian doctrine, but discourage the interference of the church in scientific matters and promote further observation exploration of the material world.

Descartes’ Death In 1649, Descartes moved to Stockholm at the request of Queen Christina of Sweden who employed him as a philosophy tutor. Christina scheduled the lectures at 5 A.M. The early hours and harsh climate took their toll on Descartes’s already weakened condition. He died shortly after in 1650. During his life, Descartes's fame rose to such an extent that (despite the theological controversies centering on him) many Catholics believed he would be a candidate for sainthood. As his body was transported from Sweden back to France, anxious relic collectors along the path removed pieces of his body. By the time his body reached France, it was considerably reduced in size.

Musée de l'Homme (Museum Paris) Descartes’ Skull.

A Good Read: Of what happened to Descartes Bones Post-Mortem

(End Descartes)