Link to Text: Here Why do you think Descartes wrote the Preface? Not many philosophy books have a Preface in the form of a letter to the faculty of a university. What are his goals and intentions? What questions do you have after reading the Preface?
I think that Descartes wrote the preface because he was trying to lay his foundation of thought at the time. It is almost like an intro chapter to a book, letting his readers know his initial thoughts and philosophy. His goals in writing this were to discuss his ideas on how the soul is a thing that thinks on its own, and is its own natural thing. Also that within the soul, the philosopher knows that he can think and be a thinker. Another point is that as humans we are limited, and know our boundaries as humans. A couple questions I thought of were that maybe this was this his way of advertising or getting attention? Maybe his bold claims got him the attention he needed to become the successful philosopher he was, or maybe it was just the era.
Descartes wrote the Preface to present the subject of the work he has made. He asserts that the existence of God can be made known through philosophy. Descartes uses scripture to support his claim by referencing an excerpt from scripture in which the capability of humans discovering God is made. This Preface serves as an attention grabber to those who are interested in the huge question of God during this time period. By making this Preface, Descartes makes his point of view on the big issue known early and then uses the rest of his work to explain himself. I question how Descartes is able to steer away form the conventional way of looking at and doing things and instead make his own way of thought. It is astonishing to see how a great mind works and comes up with ideas which have yet to be thought of.
The reason why Descrate, in my opinion, wrote his preface because he was trying to write an introduction which introduced his thought. A reader should be able to understand, based off of his preface, where Descrate's train of thought is coming from and what his main reasons for writing are. For example Descrate wished to share his ideas on the soul and the nature the soul has. A reader, from reading the preface, should be able to tell that the soul is an important part of Descrate's ideas. Descrate also introduced the idea that humans a limited therefore we should know our boundaries in life. The preface is laying out Descrate's ideas so the reader can get an overview of his goals.
Question/s: Where did his thought and understanding of life come from and what did he feel was the most important part of his thought?
Descartes wrote his Preface as a way to convey his ideas to his audience and to show them what he will be talking about. Essentially, his Preface is his thesis statement. Descartes's goals included the soul and how it is sentient and to find the origin of consciousness. I think Descartes's main intention is to show us that we can come to enlightenment or revelation on our own. Essentially we can use our souls and our own consciousness to become enlightened. My main question is how did Descartes come to this idea of his? Also, under what circumstances did undergo to make his inward turn?
Descrates as it was said before wrote the Preface so he could introduce his ideas to the public so they know what his works would be about and what his thoughts are to be. Descrate wished to share his ideas on the soul and the nature the soul has. His goals in his writings was to explain or discuss the idea that the soul is its own thing and thinks on its own, that it is its own natural thing. This Preface serves as a an act to explain the main question and attract those who are interested in the huge question that of God of the time period. I just have a question which was where and what was his inward turn and how were his thoughts thought of like was inspired his mindset of thought?
Descartes wrote the Preface to help lay out his ideas.His format helps his ideas easier to understand. His goal for the Preface is to explain the soul. Descartes believes that we can achieve enlightenment and/or revelation by ourselves. Can we really achieve enlightenment on our own? Do we really need God?
Descartes wrote the Preface as a means to introduce certain topics, vaguely, to help the reader understand what will later then be explained thoroughly. His goals were to explain the soul and God, believing that both could be determined by Philosophy, not theology. He also states that the human soul does not perish with the body, and that God exists for this reason. Descartes also believed human reason was the reason why we believed that our soul perished with our body. Descartes, in the end, explains how his points will be long and involved, but it takes great minds, people who are willing to invest their time in search for truth, to truly understand what he is trying to say. He said that that was the reason why he sent this to the Faculty of Theology of Paris, because he believed what he had to say would not affect the minds of men. Question: Would Descartes believe that the human soul does, or does not perish with the body? Why or why not?
Descartes wrote the Preface to serve the same purpose as an introduction paragraph would for an essay. He wrote it to outline the ideas the he was going to discuss before he got into deep detail. Descartes wanted to go over the two topics of the soul and the nature of the soul. He wanted to attract the people who were questioning the existence and essence of God at that time to his writings. The Preface was something that could either draw readers in more towards what he was going to write about or push them away for topics that were controversial. The main question that comes to mind while reading this was how much of an impact did his inward turn have on his writings and how exactly did his inward turn occur.
The reason why Descartes wrote his preface was because he was trying to write an introduction to his thought. A reader should be able to understand, based off of his preface, where Descrate's train of thought is coming from and what his main reasons for writing are. For example Descrate wished to share his ideas on the soul and the nature of it. From reading the preface, one should be able to tell that the soul is an important part of Descartes' ideas. Descartes also introduced the idea that humans are limited therefore we should know our boundaries in life. The preface is laying out Descartes' ideas so the reader can get an overview of his goals.
it was said before Descrate wrote the Preface so he could introduce his ideas to the public. Descrate wanted to share his ideas on the soul and nature of the soul. His points in his writings were to discuss the thought of the soul being its own thing. The Preface serves as a example the main question and attract those who are interested in the question of God of the time period. My question is how do you trust and believe the knowledge being instilled into you?
Descartes most likely wrote his preface in order to give a definitive answer of his opinion of natural reason. He wanted his ideas to be promulgated to the public to help understand the linear aspect of thought one's soul has. Descartes intentions were most likely to discard a religious perspective and take a bigger outlook on just humanity, because that is the root to all other philosophies. An inward turn which is a reflection of one's self is what he is trying to achieve and help other's understand how to do that. Human intelligence of the mind and soul is the first step to self reflection.
I believe Descartes wrote the "Preface" to express the reason behind his metaphysics. Descartes goals were to discuss his ideas on how the soul is a thing that thinks on its own, and is its own natural thing. In the soul, the philosopher knows that he can think and be a thinker. A question I have is ; What made him create his own metaphysics ? What was his inspiration?
Descartes purpose so that he could present his others in a straightforward Descartes wanted to present a base for his original thought. Descartes wanted to focus primarily on the soul.The preface is used to attract people. It is also used to guide the conversation away from religious purposes. My question would be what does Descartes believe happens to the soul when we die?
Descartes made preface so that he could better explain his thoughts on his own metaphysics. He believed in self realization that we could look inside ourselves and know what we were all about. How would Descartes go about explaining the inward turn to other philosophers like Aquinas or Plato?
Descartes wrote Preface because he wanted to slowly introduce audiences to his concepts. Descartes would introduce ideas moving away from the concept of God, he was more interested in the individual. Preface would be a work to set up later works. Descartes would transition for this introductory work to his later, more influential works and concepts.
Descartes wrote the preface so people could have an idea of his discussions and how he was going to discuss the different issues he came upon. A meditation is a personal thing so people had to know how Descartes was thinking in order to even partially understand why and how he thought. His goals are to help people to see and understand life in a different way, in the way he thinks about life. He also was to reveal his thoughts about the mysteries of life in and of itself.
Descartes included the preface to basically make an introduction to what he is going to be explaining. He believed in things that could be done by ones self and wanted to find more indepth information about the soul. Some questions i would ask are why do you believe in what you do? or What is life really to you?
Descartes in the preface talks about what his meditations are all about. He is focused on finding himself. He personally thought about what his life meant and his soul is. My question is: what are we?
Descartes wrote the Preface to show the people who reads it ,his ideas of his teachings. He says that things can truly be done and unlocked by ones' self. His goal is that he wants people to understand the many ways of life. My question is where would your soul go when you pass away?
Descartes wrote the Preface as an introduction to his works. It seems that it was used as an eye catcher for the people that see it. It is basically just a summary of what his meditations hold and interests people before they begin reading them. My only question is what made him think to do something such as a Preface? I wonder if it was planned or if he just made it and decided it would be a nice touch.
Preface- an introduction to a book. Included in the preface will be how the author intends to connect his audience throughout the book. By this I mean how he intends to tell the audience a paraphrased version of his thoughts. In this way the preface is considered the foundation of Meditations. One of his goals were to prove the existence of God through philosophy and the other was to prove the human soul would last forever. My question is how can he prove the soul lasts forever if he is dead?
I think that Descartes wrote the preface because he was trying to lay his foundation of thought at the time. It is almost like an intro chapter to a book, letting his readers know his initial thoughts and philosophy. His goals in writing this were to discuss his ideas on how the soul is a thing that thinks on its own, and is its own natural thing. Also that within the soul, the philosopher knows that he can think and be a thinker. Another point is that as humans we are limited, and know our boundaries as humans. A couple questions I thought of were that maybe this was this his way of advertising or getting attention? Maybe his bold claims got him the attention he needed to become the successful philosopher he was, or maybe it was just the era.
ReplyDeleteDescartes wrote the Preface to present the subject of the work he has made. He asserts that the existence of God can be made known through philosophy. Descartes uses scripture to support his claim by referencing an excerpt from scripture in which the capability of humans discovering God is made. This Preface serves as an attention grabber to those who are interested in the huge question of God during this time period. By making this Preface, Descartes makes his point of view on the big issue known early and then uses the rest of his work to explain himself. I question how Descartes is able to steer away form the conventional way of looking at and doing things and instead make his own way of thought. It is astonishing to see how a great mind works and comes up with ideas which have yet to be thought of.
ReplyDeleteThe reason why Descrate, in my opinion, wrote his preface because he was trying to write an introduction which introduced his thought. A reader should be able to understand, based off of his preface, where Descrate's train of thought is coming from and what his main reasons for writing are. For example Descrate wished to share his ideas on the soul and the nature the soul has. A reader, from reading the preface, should be able to tell that the soul is an important part of Descrate's ideas. Descrate also introduced the idea that humans a limited therefore we should know our boundaries in life. The preface is laying out Descrate's ideas so the reader can get an overview of his goals.
ReplyDeleteQuestion/s: Where did his thought and understanding of life come from and what did he feel was the most important part of his thought?
Descartes wrote his Preface as a way to convey his ideas to his audience and to show them what he will be talking about. Essentially, his Preface is his thesis statement. Descartes's goals included the soul and how it is sentient and to find the origin of consciousness. I think Descartes's main intention is to show us that we can come to enlightenment or revelation on our own. Essentially we can use our souls and our own consciousness to become enlightened. My main question is how did Descartes come to this idea of his? Also, under what circumstances did undergo to make his inward turn?
ReplyDeleteDescrates as it was said before wrote the Preface so he could introduce his ideas to the public so they know what his works would be about and what his thoughts are to be. Descrate wished to share his ideas on the soul and the nature the soul has. His goals in his writings was to explain or discuss the idea that the soul is its own thing and thinks on its own, that it is its own natural thing. This Preface serves as a an act to explain the main question and attract those who are interested in the huge question that of God of the time period. I just have a question which was where and what was his inward turn and how were his thoughts thought of like was inspired his mindset of thought?
ReplyDeleteDescartes wrote the Preface to help lay out his ideas.His format helps his ideas easier to understand. His goal for the Preface is to explain the soul. Descartes believes that we can achieve enlightenment and/or revelation by ourselves. Can we really achieve enlightenment on our own? Do we really need God?
ReplyDeleteDescartes wrote the Preface as a means to introduce certain topics, vaguely, to help the reader understand what will later then be explained thoroughly. His goals were to explain the soul and God, believing that both could be determined by Philosophy, not theology. He also states that the human soul does not perish with the body, and that God exists for this reason. Descartes also believed human reason was the reason why we believed that our soul perished with our body. Descartes, in the end, explains how his points will be long and involved, but it takes great minds, people who are willing to invest their time in search for truth, to truly understand what he is trying to say. He said that that was the reason why he sent this to the Faculty of Theology of Paris, because he believed what he had to say would not affect the minds of men.
ReplyDeleteQuestion: Would Descartes believe that the human soul does, or does not perish with the body? Why or why not?
Descartes wrote the Preface to serve the same purpose as an introduction paragraph would for an essay. He wrote it to outline the ideas the he was going to discuss before he got into deep detail. Descartes wanted to go over the two topics of the soul and the nature of the soul. He wanted to attract the people who were questioning the existence and essence of God at that time to his writings. The Preface was something that could either draw readers in more towards what he was going to write about or push them away for topics that were controversial. The main question that comes to mind while reading this was how much of an impact did his inward turn have on his writings and how exactly did his inward turn occur.
ReplyDeleteThe reason why Descartes wrote his preface was because he was trying to write an introduction to his thought. A reader should be able to understand, based off of his preface, where Descrate's train of thought is coming from and what his main reasons for writing are. For example Descrate wished to share his ideas on the soul and the nature of it. From reading the preface, one should be able to tell that the soul is an important part of Descartes' ideas. Descartes also introduced the idea that humans are limited therefore we should know our boundaries in life. The preface is laying out Descartes' ideas so the reader can get an overview of his goals.
ReplyDeleteit was said before Descrate wrote the Preface so he could introduce his ideas to the public. Descrate wanted to share his ideas on the soul and nature of the soul. His points in his writings were to discuss the thought of the soul being its own thing. The Preface serves as a example the main question and attract those who are interested in the question of God of the time period. My question is how do you trust and believe the knowledge being instilled into you?
ReplyDeleteDescartes most likely wrote his preface in order to give a definitive answer of his opinion of natural reason. He wanted his ideas to be promulgated to the public to help understand the linear aspect of thought one's soul has. Descartes intentions were most likely to discard a religious perspective and take a bigger outlook on just humanity, because that is the root to all other philosophies. An inward turn which is a reflection of one's self is what he is trying to achieve and help other's understand how to do that. Human intelligence of the mind and soul is the first step to self reflection.
ReplyDeleteI believe Descartes wrote the "Preface" to express the reason behind his metaphysics. Descartes goals were to discuss his ideas on how the soul is a thing that thinks on its own, and is its own natural thing. In the soul, the philosopher knows that he can think and be a thinker. A question I have is ; What made him create his own metaphysics ? What was his inspiration?
ReplyDeleteDescartes purpose so that he could present his others in a straightforward Descartes wanted to present a base for his original thought. Descartes wanted to focus primarily on the soul.The preface is used to attract people. It is also used to guide the conversation away from religious purposes. My question would be what does Descartes believe happens to the soul when we die?
ReplyDeleteDescartes made preface so that he could better explain his thoughts on his own metaphysics. He believed in self realization that we could look inside ourselves and know what we were all about. How would Descartes go about explaining the inward turn to other philosophers like Aquinas or Plato?
ReplyDeleteDescartes wrote Preface because he wanted to slowly introduce audiences to his concepts. Descartes would introduce ideas moving away from the concept of God, he was more interested in the individual. Preface would be a work to set up later works. Descartes would transition for this introductory work to his later, more influential works and concepts.
ReplyDeleteDescartes wrote the preface so people could have an idea of his discussions and how he was going to discuss the different issues he came upon. A meditation is a personal thing so people had to know how Descartes was thinking in order to even partially understand why and how he thought. His goals are to help people to see and understand life in a different way, in the way he thinks about life. He also was to reveal his thoughts about the mysteries of life in and of itself.
ReplyDeleteDescartes included the preface to basically make an introduction to what he is going to be explaining. He believed in things that could be done by ones self and wanted to find more indepth information about the soul. Some questions i would ask are why do you believe in what you do? or What is life really to you?
ReplyDeleteDescartes in the preface talks about what his meditations are all about. He is focused on finding himself. He personally thought about what his life meant and his soul is. My question is: what are we?
ReplyDeleteDescartes wrote the Preface to show the people who reads it ,his ideas of his teachings. He says that things can truly be done and unlocked by ones' self. His goal is that he wants people to understand the many ways of life. My question is where would your soul go when you pass away?
ReplyDeleteDescartes wrote the Preface as an introduction to his works. It seems that it was used as an eye catcher for the people that see it. It is basically just a summary of what his meditations hold and interests people before they begin reading them. My only question is what made him think to do something such as a Preface? I wonder if it was planned or if he just made it and decided it would be a nice touch.
ReplyDeletePreface- an introduction to a book. Included in the preface will be how the author intends to connect his audience throughout the book. By this I mean how he intends to tell the audience a paraphrased version of his thoughts. In this way the preface is considered the foundation of Meditations. One of his goals were to prove the existence of God through philosophy and the other was to prove the human soul would last forever.
ReplyDeleteMy question is how can he prove the soul lasts forever if he is dead?