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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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    Home/Original/inverse
    See Original
    Inverse View

    It is not the case that When a human being perceives a material thing, what is directly seen is not the material thing itself but its idea in God

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

    Reasons For

    2 perspectives
    Reason for 1 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Direct realism holds that perception is a causal relation between a perceiver and a mind-independent object, requiring no intermediary idea.
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    • 2.Malebranche's interposition of divine ideas generates an explanatory regress: we must then ask how God perceives the idea, and by what idea.
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      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.If human perception requires a divine intermediary, the causal connection between the material world and human experience becomes entirely unintelligible.
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      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Reason for 2 of 2
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    • 1.Arnauld argued against Malebranche that ideas are not entities distinct from acts of perception but are modifications of the mind itself.
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      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.If ideas are intrinsic modifications of the perceiving mind, there is no warrant to locate them in a divine intellect external to the human perceiver.
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      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.Positing ideas in God rather than in the mind violates Ockham's razor by multiplying entities beyond what perception itself requires.
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      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.Ideas exist in God, not as modes of the human mind
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      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.Human knowledge is mediated by ideas
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      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.The immediate object of human perception is the idea, not the external material object
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      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

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    Based on where you are in your exploration

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