Meditations on First Philosophy Argumentative Analysis
In the Sixth Meditation, Descartes argues for the real distinction between mind and body.Explain what ‘real distinction’ in general means. Then, clearly state the argument in thefollowing passage (page 140) from the Sixth Meditation.
Descartes:
I know that if I have a vivid and clear thought of something, God could havecreated it in a way that exactly corresponds to my thought. So the fact that I canvividly and clearly think of one thing apart from another assures me that the twothings are distinct from one another·that is, that they are two·since they canbe separated by God. Never mind how they could be separated; that does notaffect the judgment that they are distinct. ·So my mind is a distinct thing frommy body. Furthermore, my mind is me, for the following reason·. I know that Iexist and that nothing else belongs to my nature or essence except that I am athinking thing; from this it follows that my essence consists solely in my being athinking thing, even though there may be a body that is very closely joined tome. I have a vivid and clear idea of myself as something that thinks and isn’textended, and one of body as something that is extended and does not think.So it is certain that I am really distinct from my body and can exist without it.
Specifications
Argument Analyses should be 1 to 1.5 pages long. To get credit, you must use relevantquotations from the course reader. Include a page number for each quotation, and provide alist of works cited.
Grading Standards
* Up to 40 points based on the following criteria: Student’s argument analysis¦1. accurately explains Descartes’ concept of real distinction,
2. lays out the argument and demonstrates understanding of the passage,3. uses 2-4 properly cited, relevant quotations from the passage,
4. uses standard English, proper formatting, etc. (1-inch margins, 12-point Times NewRoman font, double spacing, in-text citations, MLA-style works cited entry, etc.)
“Place your order now for a similar assignment and have exceptional work written by our team of experts, guaranteeing you A results.”
