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    Descartes' criterion for true and immutable natures presu... — Carmelics
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    Challenges→The objection that premise (3) requires prefixing 'According to the idea of God' is undermined

    Descartes' criterion for true and immutable natures presupposes a Platonic realism about essences that many rationalist and empiricist traditions explicitly reject.

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    1 reason for
    1 reason against

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
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    • 1.Descartes appeals to unchanging essences (e.g., triangle's properties) that seem independent of mind, consistent with Platonic realism.
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    • 2.Empiricists like Hume reject necessary essences altogether, suggesting Descartes' criterion relies on metaphysics they explicitly deny.
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    • 3.Rationalists diverge on essences: Leibniz accepts them but grounds them in God's intellect, not Platonic forms as Descartes implies.
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    Reasons Against

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    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.Descartes could ground true natures in divine intellect alone without presupposing independent Platonic essences or abstract realm.
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    • 2.Descartes explicitly rejects Platonic forms; his criterion relies on clarity and distinctness, epistemological, not ontological commitment.
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    • 3.Many rationalists (Spinoza, Leibniz) accepted necessary essences while denying Platonic realism, so essentialism ≠ Platonism.
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    Connections

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    Proof of definition segments1 linkedNatural Theology1 linked

    Related

    Descartes appeals to unchanging essences (e.g., triangle's properties) that seem...Descartes could ground true natures in divine intellect alone without presupposi...Descartes explicitly rejects Platonic forms; his criterion relies on clarity and...Empiricists like Hume reject necessary essences altogether, suggesting Descartes...
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    Many rationalists (Spinoza, Leibniz) accepted necessary essences while denying P...Rationalists diverge on essences: Leibniz accepts them but grounds them in God's...The objection that premise (3) requires prefixing 'According to the idea of God'...

    Details

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    claim
    Perspectives
    2 (1 for, 1 against)
    Edits
    1 edit