Meditations on First Philosophy

The Meditations on First Philosophy, in qua Dei existentia et animae Immortalitas demonstratur (Latin Meditations on First Philosophy, in which the existence of God and the immortality of the soul is proved ) is an epoch-making work of the French philosopher René Descartes metaphysics and epistemology of the year 1641. In 1647 the first latin printed meditations were sur la philosophie première dans laquelle sont démontrées l' existence de Dieu et l' âme de l' immortalité translated into French under the title Méditations. In German a part of the book was published in 1863 and translated by Kuno Fischer in the main writings on the foundation of his philosophy. Julius von Kirchmann published in 1870 under the title Studies on the basics of philosophy a complete German translation. Under the title Meditations on First Philosophy was published in 1904 translation by Artur Buchenau.

Content

The Meditations on First Philosophy consists of six individual meditations.

First meditation

In the first meditation Descartes turns to the methodological doubt. He relies on not on individual findings, but in the principles of knowledge itself, to which he previously supported everything what he believed to be true. First, he excluded from all knowledge that convey his senses. Then he left out any evidence that mediate arithmetic, geometry and similar sciences, as they are about general things and for whom it is irrelevant whether these things really exist: an evil demon ( Descartscher demon) could deceive him on these paths of knowledge.

Second meditation

In the second meditation Descartes called a point that is different from what he has doubted methodically in the first meditation and offers no reason to doubt, as even a possible evil demon can not deceive him on this point.

In doubting Descartes thought experiences itself as existing. Thus, Descartes has a fixed point found, from which it can go out.

Third meditation

The central question of the third meditation is now, how can it establish secure knowledge. To this end, Descartes must first establish the existence of cheating God, which he has introduced in the first meditation, to exclude. He manages this by filing a proof of God, in which he concludes from the idea of God, which he carries in itself on its real existence: Since each cause ( God ) is in principle more perfect than their sequence ( the creation of man) and the idea of ​​an infinite, independent, omniscient and omnipotent being could not have been produced by a man as imperfect beings themselves, Descartes concludes that God exists necessary. This rule out the existence of a cheating God, because God could deceive him impossible as deception belongs to the realm of the imperfect and thus the idea of ​​God would contradict as perfect beings.

Fourth meditation

In the fourth meditation Descartes explains why people can be wrong despite the non-existence of a cheating God in arithmetic, geometry and similar sciences. This human error capacity was spawned not willed by God or by him, but lies in the finitude of human reason. The ability of man to arrive at knowledge are limited, so it may come in this cognitive process to wrong judgments.

Fifth meditation

In the fifth and sixth Meditation Descartes now has to dispel doubts about the sensory perception, what is more necessary than to refer only to a possible rash judgment. In the fifth meditation Descartes concludes again the existence of God, by closing of its definition as perfect beings on its existence.

Sixth meditation

In the sixth Meditation Descartes argues that sensations are always bound to a thinking and sentient self. God plant the people a the idea sensations stirred forth from the body. Since it is incompatible with the nature of God, that he deceived the people would have physical things truly exist. The area of the thinking, judging ego called Descartes as res cogitans, while the physical things, so the object world fall within the scope of the res extensa.

From his remarks, Descartes concludes that all this is true, what can be seen clearly, so that he had found a secure basis for philosophical knowledge.