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    Descartes distinguishes formal reality (the act of thinki... — Carmelics
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    Supports→Ideas cannot be modes of the mind

    Descartes distinguishes formal reality (the act of thinking) from objective reality (the represented content), and a mode of mind possesses only formal, not intrinsic objective, reality.

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    1 reason for
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    Reasons For

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    Reason for
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    • 1.Thinking acts are events occurring in the mind with causal power; represented content exists only as objects of thought, not independently.
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    • 2.A mode of mind (e.g., perceiving redness) has real existence as a mental act, but the redness itself exists only as an idea, not intrinsically.
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    • 3.This distinction preserves the causal efficacy of mental acts while avoiding the problem of how mind-independent objects could exist inside thought.
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    Reasons Against

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    Reason against
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    • 1.If objective reality is merely represented content without intrinsic reality, we cannot explain how ideas can be about real external objects at all.
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    • 2.The distinction between formal and objective reality seems to rely on an unexplained difference in what 'reality' means in each context.
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    • 3.Modes of mind like pain or desire appear to have intrinsic reality as experienced qualitative states, not merely representational content.
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    Key Terms

    Descartes
    # Descartes René Descartes was a French philosopher and mathematician from the 1600s who fundamentally changed how people think about knowledge and the mind. He's famous for the idea "I think, therefore I am" (cogito ergo sum), which means that the very fact that you can think proves you exist—a foundation for modern philosophy. He also invented the coordinate system used in mathematics (the x and y axes on a graph), which connects geometry and algebra in practical ways we still use today.
    Intrinsic objective reality(what Descartes says a mode of mind does NOT possess)
    Independent existence that something has on its own, separate from being thought about or represented in someone's mind.
    Mode of mind(the subject being analyzed)
    A particular type or way that your mind exists or operates—like a specific thought or mental state you're experiencing.
    formal reality(Used in Descartes' causal principle in Meditation III)
    The degree of reality a thing possesses in itself, as an actually existing entity
    objective reality(Contrasted with formal reality in Descartes' causal principle in Meditation III)
    The degree of reality belonging to the object or content represented by an idea, as it exists within the idea

    Connections

    2 topics

    Consciousness & Mind1 linkedDivine Attributes1 linked

    Related

    A mode of mind (e.g., perceiving redness) has real existence as a mental act, bu...Ideas cannot be modes of the mind

    Details

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    claim
    Perspectives
    2 (1 for, 1 against)
    Edits
    1 edit
    If objective reality is merely represented content without intrinsic reality, we...
    Modes of mind like pain or desire appear to have intrinsic reality as experience...
    +3 moreShow less
    The distinction between formal and objective reality seems to rely on an unexpla...Thinking acts are events occurring in the mind with causal power; represented co...This distinction preserves the causal efficacy of mental acts while avoiding the...