Key Philosophical Concepts: A Descartes Lexicon

Posted on Jan 14, 2025 in Philosophy and ethics

Key Philosophical Concepts: A Descartes Lexicon

  • Algebra

    Part of mathematics using symbols to represent quantities, simplifying and generalizing issues.

  • Alma

    The thinking substance, the self of every individual.

  • Analysis

    Method of breaking down complex ideas into simple elements apprehended by intuition.

  • Analysis of Geometry

    Using equations to solve problems in analytic geometry.

  • Certainty

    Subjective belief in a statement’s truth, synonymous with evidence, opposed to doubt and opinion.

  • Circumspection

    Mental prudence in reasoning, avoiding hasty or ill-founded conclusions.

  • Clarity

    Characteristic of certainty, a manifestation of knowledge that compels acquiescence.

  • True Knowledge

    Firm and true knowledge, the ideal Descartes aimed to build using a proper method.

  • Body

    Material substance characterized by extension, independent of the knowing subject.

  • Deduction

    Rigorous inference from certain knowledge, an orderly succession of intuitions.

  • God

    Perfect, infinite substance, whose existence guarantees the veracity of the mind when following the method.

    Attributes: infinite, eternal, immutable, omniscient, omnipotent, self-subsistent, and omniperfect.

  • Distinction

    Characteristic of certainty, an idea that cannot be confused with others, appearing separate and distinct.

  • Methodical Doubt

    Descartes’ process to determine indubitable truth, systematically considering everything that can be doubted.

  • Skepticism

    Philosophical doctrine denying the capacity of knowledge to reach truth, criticized by Descartes.

  • Essence

    What a thing is; the true self of ‘me’ is thought, an essential attribute of the soul, distinct from the body.

  • Evidence

    Direct apprehension of a proposition’s truth, characterized by clarity and distinction, present in intuition.

  • Images

    Representations of reality in thinking; ideas have content and can be innate, adventitious, or factitious.

  • Judgment

    Mental act that asserts something about something, expressed in a statement or proposition.

  • Logic

    Philosophical discipline studying valid reasoning for its form.