Ep. 229: Descartes's Rules for Thinking (Part Two)

The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast

Mark Linsenmayer

Casey, Paskin, Philosophy, Linsenmayer, Society & Culture, Alwan

4.6 • 2.3K Ratings

🗓️ 11 November 2019

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Continuing on René Descartes's Rules for Direction of the Mind (1628), covering rules 7 through the first part of the lengthy rule 12.

We try to figure out what he means by "enumeration;" the faculties of imagination, sense and memory; the virtues of perspicacity and sagacity; his psychology of the senses, the "common sense" where all sense data comes together, and the understanding; how Descartes recommends we do scientific investigation; why syllogisms stink; and whether some people are just better at philosophy than others.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	The partially examined life relies on your support.
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0:05.4	please visit partiallyexaminedlife.com slash support.
0:16.5	You're listening to Partially Examined Life Episode 229,
0:20.2	Part 2 on date cards rules for direction of the mind.
0:24.0	So we are up to rule 7.
0:27.0	Dylan, what's your translation like on that?
0:29.1	In order to make our knowledge complete,
0:31.2	every single thing relating to our undertaking must be surveyed in a continuous
0:36.0	and wholly uninterrupted sweep of thought
0:38.4	and being included in a sufficient and well-ordered enumeration.
0:42.9	So this is sort of an expansion of the chain of reasoning, the chain of truth
0:47.3	that we've been talking about earlier,
0:50.1	though adding in this notion of enumeration.
0:55.5	Yeah, which he says is the same as induction.
0:59.0	A review or inventory of all those matters that have a bearing on the problem raised,
1:03.3	which is so thorough and accurate that by its means we can clearly
1:06.7	and with confidence conclude that we have admitted nothing by mistake.
1:11.1	Wes, weren't you saying that it seems like it's kind of means the same as deduction?
1:14.2	In my translation, it's enumeration.
1:16.7	Right, it says enumeration or induction in mind.
1:18.8	It says specifically that these are the same thing.
	...

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