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The best of Descartes’ method

שו”תCategory: generalThe best of Descartes’ method
asked 5 years ago

In the SD
Hello Rabbi,
There was something that was not particularly clear to me, according to Descartes, in order to counter the epistemological imp, he created the ontological argument that tries to derive from the concept of the most perfect thing that it also exists, and since part of perfection also includes the attribute of infinite goodness, etc., therefore God is obliged to prevent us from thinking that is not rational. And that is the most evil thing there is.
If that’s what I wanted to ask, according to him, concepts are absolute “a priori”? After all, the elf can also change our concepts, or instill new concepts in us, so does the assumption that the greatest thing includes other concepts such as “good,” power, or existence require clarification?
And second, how was it so clear to him that good exists objectively and does not come about through socio-evolutionary development?


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מיכי Staff answered 5 years ago
There are clearly assumptions at the heart of his argument. He assumes that concepts, and especially logic, are not the product of the deceptive elf. There is no analytical way to gather information.

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ק replied 5 years ago

Basically, but the ontological view tries to make the leap from analyticity to something else that is not included in observation, right?

If so, then how exactly does it contribute to this?

So, in your opinion, the status of the laws of logic is not external or comes from observation, right? The idea behind at least some of the laws of logic comes from observation. To not think so is nonsense.

מיכי Staff replied 5 years ago

If he had succeeded, he would have donated. But the argument didn't really succeed.

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