i have a question for people who have a degree or sometype of experience in academic philosophy......?

Question

Why is it that it is said that cartesian skepticism (matrix idea) and solipsism are self refuting??
and if it is self refuting as commonly beleived, then why is it said to be disprovable?

are these theories something to be taken seriousely? or is it just a hypothetical "what if" question that hold on the grounds of lack of emperical evidence (because none can be drawn) despite the fact they are self refuting in theory?

the ideas are very disturbing to me and i use to have anxiety about these kinds of thoughts

and what about wittgenstein? are his views on the subject universaly accepted?

Answer 1

I've seen that you've asked this question a number of times now.

Taking the last part first, nothing in philosophy is "universally accepted", but Wittgenstein's thoughts on solipsism have a large general level of acceptance, and aren't considered controversial.

Now, as for the central point: it would behoove you to read a little on solipsism (perhaps just the Wikipedia article), to familiarize yourself with the topic. A cursory reading should give you the answer you are looking for-- that the theories are not taken seriously by philosophers, and are, indeed, considered to be self-refuting.

If you are having anxiety about these kinds of thoughts, I think you ought to consider this from a more psychological perspective than a philosophical one. Why do you find these thoughts disturbing, and not merely intriguing?

Answer 2

hi. i might say that happiness is defined via its feeling of contentedness. Happiness is frequently performed whilst specific situations, that persons traditionally locate optimal or stable, are met. Bliss is whilst a individual has performed a clean point of happiness that perpetuates itself interior that individual. Happiness may be fleeting yet bliss is meant to final awhile longer. So whilst anybody is "following their bliss", they are stepping into a chain of optimal activities, for them, till they gain a extra lasting content cloth or happiness. Ecstasy is the "severe" possible get from the two happiness and bliss. The ecstasy is the ingredient that can block out detrimental suggestions and override specific logical strategies at the same time as interior the state of "happiness and bliss". I have not have been given any actual own examples different than commentary and type. yet this is all in simple terms my opinion. thank you and stable bye.

Answer 3

Cartesian skepticism refers to the method of reasoned skepticism employed by the 17th Century Philosopher René Descartes. Frequently referred to as Methodological Skepticism or Methodological Doubt, this concept forms an important component of Descartes' epistemological work.

Descartes' skepticism is designed to break down all things which it is possible to doubt, leaving Descartes with only those pieces of knowledge of which he can be certain. From this fundamental component of knowledge about which it is impossible to hold doubt, Descartes then goes on to derive further knowledge from the certain knowledge he is left with. Its an archetypal and significant example that epitomizes the Continental Rational schools of philosophy.

In his Meditations, Descartes employs by way of example a situation in which a Malicious Demon is deceiving his senses into experiencing a world around him which does not, in fact, exist, so that he must therefore doubt his surroundings, fellow men, and even God himself:

"I will suppose... some malicious demon of the utmost power and cunning has employed all his energies in order to deceive me. I shall think that the sky, the air, the earth, colours, shapes, sounds and all external things are merely the delusions of dreams which he has devised to ensnare my judgement." René Descartes - Meditations on First Philosophy: First Meditation

In this example, the piece of knowledge that Descartes deduces he cannot doubt is his existence itself - as in order to be doubting (and therefore thinking), he must necessarily exist.

Descartes' phrasing of this fact has become one of the most famous (and misunderstood) philosophical propositions, and is formulated in Latin in his earlier Discourse as 'Cogito Ergo Sum' - I think therefore I am. This proposition is frequently referred to as the Cogito, although the phrase itself is not actually used in the meditations (as Descartes felt that it mis-represented his intended message).

Cartesian skepticism advocates the doubting of all things which cannot be justified through logic. Some have claimed that the corresponding philosophical proposition fails the criterion of falsifiability that is required of any empirical theory.[citation needed].

In the "Dictionary of Philosophy of Mind", Cartesian skepticism is defined as "Any of a class of skeptical views against empirical knowledge based on the claim that claims to empirical knowledge are defeated by the possibility that we might be deceived insofar as we might be, for example, dreaming, hallucinating, deceived by demons, or brains in vats."

Answer 4

You are having this problem because you are thinking about this idea from the standpoint of individual minds.

This will never work.

You need to expand your definition of "I".

Love and blessings Don