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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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    Made withinDC&Austin
    Statements
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    Perspectives
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    Home/Original/inverse
    See Original
    Inverse View

    It is not the case that Space is not a separate, incorporeal entity independent of matter for Descartes

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

    Reasons For

    2 perspectives
    Reason for 1 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Descartes' own thought experiments require conceiving extended space persisting through matter's removal (Pr II 18), suggesting spatial intuition outruns matter-identity.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.If space and matter were strictly identical, 'vacuum' would be strictly inconceivable, yet Descartes expends considerable argument refuting it rather than dismissing it as grammatically ill-formed.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.Newton's absolute space, developed partly in direct response to Cartesian physics, derives its philosophical motivation from genuine ambiguities in Descartes' own extension-matter conflation.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Reason for 2 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Descartes distinguishes 'internal place' (matter itself) from 'external place' (surface of surrounding body), implying spatial relations are not fully reducible to particular material substances (Pr II 15).
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.This internal/external place distinction reintroduces a relational structure that functions independently of any specific material body, undermining strict matter-space identity.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.Descartes equates bodily and spatial extension to reject any view treating space as independent of matter (Pr II 9)
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.Conceiving corporeal substance as distinct from its extension leads to the confused idea of an incorporeal substance (Pr II 9)
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Next step

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    Strongest counterpoint
    Explore the most compelling reason on the other side.