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    Carmelics

    A reasoning platform. Break down any belief into clear reasons, explore both sides, and weigh the evidence honestly.

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    LoyalLoyalJusticeJustice
    Made withinDC&Austin
    Statements
    321,452
    Perspectives
    108,905
    Topics
    42
    Home/Original/inverse
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    Inverse View

    It is not the case that Genuine clarity and distinctness of an idea compels the will to affirm it

    ?Set your confidence on the premises below to see your aggregate.

    Reasons For

    2 perspectives
    Reason for 1 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Descartes himself admits in the Fourth Meditation that the will can withhold assent even from clear and distinct ideas by simply declining to judge.
      ?

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    • 2.If suspension of judgment is genuinely possible, the 'compulsion' is at most a strong inclination, which is incompatible with the modal force the claim requires.
      ?

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    • 3.Hume's observation that belief is a feeling of vivacity rather than a rational compulsion shows that psychological inevitability cannot ground epistemic necessity.
      ?

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    Reason for 2 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Spinoza argued that clarity and distinctness are themselves constituted by coherence within a system, making the criterion circular rather than self-warranting.
      ?

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    • 2.If the mark of clarity and distinctness is itself determined by what we are already inclined to affirm, the alleged compulsion explains nothing about truth-tracking.
      ?

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    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.The intellect perceives or represents the content of a judgment
      ?

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    • 2.The will affirms or denies content presented by the intellect
      ?

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    • 3.When an idea is genuinely clear and distinct, a great light in the intellect is followed by a great inclination of the will
      ?

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    Explore the most compelling reason on the other side.