Human Mind Response Discussion
How would you cite the materials below ?
– René Descartes, “Meditation Two: Concerning the Nature of the Human Mind: That It Is Better Known Than the Body,” in Meditations on First Philosophy [1641], trans. Donald Cress (Hackett Publishing Co., 1993), pp. 17-24.
– Andrew Valls, “Introduction” to his edited volume, Race and Racism in Modern Philosophy (Cornell University Press, 2005), pp. 1-15.
– Timothy J. Reiss, “Descartes’s Silences on Slavery and Race,” in Race and Racism in Modern Philosophy (Cornell University Press, 2005), pp. 16-42
*** simply cite each of them ***
2. What was your favorite line or fragment of a line form meditation two ? Please quote verbatim, and give a page number so others can easily find. ex: “yet the wax remains” (21, AT 30)
3. What is significant or striking or otherwise interesting about Descartes’s “discovery” on p.19 (AT 27) that “thought exists; it alone cannot be separated from me” ? (50-100 words)
4. What do you make of Descartes’s claim, on p.23 (AT 34), that “even bodies are not properly speaking, perceived by the senses”? Do you agree with him (and if so, why) ? Disagree (and if so, why – that is, where/how do his arguments fail) ? (50-100 words)
5. Where, if anywhere, might we start to see traces of emerging conceptions of race and/or debates about slavery in Descartes? (50-100 words) cycle