Ideas from 'Rules for the Direction of the Mind' by René Descartes [1628], by Theme Structure

[found in 'Rules for the Direction of the Mind' by Descartes,René [Newcomb Library 2023,978-8-39078-95-1]].

green numbers give full details    |     back to texts     |     expand these ideas

---

1. Philosophy / D. Nature of Philosophy / 7. Despair over Philosophy

24032

Clever scholars can obscure things which are obvious even to peasants

1. Philosophy / F. Analytic Philosophy / 5. Linguistic Analysis

24033

Most scholastic disputes concern words, where agreeing on meanings would settle them

2. Reason / A. Nature of Reason / 4. Aims of Reason

24024

The secret of the method is to recognise which thing in a series is the simplest

2. Reason / A. Nature of Reason / 5. Objectivity

24018

One truth leads us to another

6. Mathematics / A. Nature of Mathematics / 4. Using Numbers / a. Units

24035

Unity is something shared by many things, so in that respect they are equals

24036

I can only see the proportion of two to three if there is a common measure - their unity

7. Existence / A. Nature of Existence / 3. Being / d. Non-being

24029

Among the simples are the graspable negations, such as rest and instants

10. Modality / C. Sources of Modality / 4. Necessity from Concepts

24030

3+4=7 is necessary because we cannot conceive of seven without including three and four

11. Knowledge Aims / B. Certain Knowledge / 1. Certainty

24019

If we accept mere probabilities as true we undermine our existing knowledge

11. Knowledge Aims / B. Certain Knowledge / 4. The Cogito

24020

We all see intuitively that we exist, where intuition is attentive, clear and distinct rational understanding

24031

When Socrates doubts, he know he doubts, and that truth is possible

12. Knowledge Sources / A. A Priori Knowledge / 2. Self-Evidence

24025

Clear and distinct truths must be known all at once (unlike deductions)

12. Knowledge Sources / A. A Priori Knowledge / 3. Innate Knowledge / a. Innate knowledge

24022

Our souls possess divine seeds of knowledge, which can bear spontaneous fruit

12. Knowledge Sources / D. Empiricism / 5. Empiricism Critique

24034

If someone had only seen the basic colours, they could deduce the others from resemblance

13. Knowledge Criteria / B. Internal Justification / 4. Foundationalism / a. Foundationalism

24021

The method starts with clear intuitions, followed by a process of deduction

15. Nature of Minds / A. Nature of Mind / 8. Brain

24027

Nerves and movement originate in the brain, where imagination moves them

15. Nature of Minds / C. Capacities of Minds / 1. Faculties

24026

Our four knowledge faculties are intelligence, imagination, the senses, and memory

17. Mind and Body / A. Mind-Body Dualism / 1. Dualism

24028

The force by which we know things is spiritual, and quite distinct from the body

26. Natural Theory / A. Speculations on Nature / 4. Mathematical Nature

24023

All the sciences searching for order and measure are related to mathematics