In the second part of the first Meditation, Descartes mentions the possibility of an "Evil Genius." Explain what the evil genius is and explain why the evil genius allows Descartes to doubt even the most basic things like math and colors.
12 comments:
Siby Anan
said...
The idea of an evil genius, for me, is frightening. In fact, everything that Descartes has explored so far in his meditations has disturbed in a semipermanent manner. I don't like waking up in the morning thinking that I might've actually just gone to sleep and am now dreaming. I don't like thinking that everything around me is a lie, and that I'm just being deceived by a god.
Descartes mentions an evil genius in his writing. This evil genius is similar to God in that he is all knowing and all powerful. However, he is NOT god because he hasn't created the world and doesn't benefit it in any way. This evil genius sneaks into your mind and connects himself to your brain, without your consent (obviously). He now controls your mind - all of your senses are deceiving you. Nothing you see, taste, feel, hear, or smell is the truth. You're just seeing what the evil genius wants you to see.
This is so controversial...I like having control of my own mind...
The evil genius is a person that is similar to god. He/She is all powerful and all knowing but he/she constantly wants to decieve people. He/She plugs into your brain and portarys images and information that you believe is fact or knowledge but in reality it isn't. For exmaple, when I go to sleep I "dream" and then when I wake up I am awake. But couldn't this be what the evil genius wants you to think and that you are really dreaming when you wake up and when you go to sleep your awake. This is why Descartes doubts basic things like math and colors because he can't be sure that reality and the facts of math and colors are real. There is doubt that this information or knowledge is false. Therefore we don't know anything because, for something to be knowledge it must be undoubtable. But we can doubt everything based on the evil genius theory, and that someone is controlling our mind.
To Descartes this evil genius is some omnipresent powerful being that can exact his will on our minds to control what we know. It is like a nega-God or like Satan. What this means is that all we know can be a false reality an the world as we know it could and might as well be a nightmare of an awesome being. The reason that Descartes believes that this evil man could make him doubt simple things such as colors is because with his level of power (and exp points) he or she could easily manipulate our minds to believe anything. To me all this is a bunch of spit. It is just his expression of fear at not knowing his place or existance and to me it sounds as if he just wants answers to a simple question- What is our life? simple answer- who cares! you were given life by a more powerful being or energy or wateva! life your life and dont sweat the small stuff.
As Descartes states in the first Meditation, there might be existence of an "Evil Genius". He define the evil genius as a supreme being that have the same power that God have, but the evil genius is evil. And the evil genius deceives us, this is the evil's goal. Descartes say if this is the case, then even the most basic things such as Mathematics and colors can be doubted, because the evil genius have complete control over what we are thinking, everything we know comes from the evil genius, if the purpose of the evil genius is to deceive us, then everything we know is wrong since he's telling us the wrong things all the time. For example, we acknowledge red as red, but what if red isn't red? what if it's just what evil genius want us to think? Maybe red is blue, who knows? Personally, I think Descartes is thinking too much. Even if red is blue, so? Even Descartes said that live your life still, believe what you believe, just know that it can be doubted, so then what's the purpose of all these thinking?
the evil genius is used to represent the fact that the world as we know it may only exist in our minds. there is absolutly no way that anyone can say that there is no evil genius, we have no evidence that he doesnt exist and we will never be able to find any. the evil genius is controling all the input (our senses) that we get so anything that we learn about there not being an evil genius would be his way of hiding himself.
because there is that slim possibility that all that we know about the world is fake we cant be sure about anything. you may say that we can feel an object infront of us so it must be there, but the theory of the evil genius would state that the evil genius may just be making us feel it in our hands. Knowing that we cant disprove the the existance of the evil genus we cant be 100% sure about something, because there is always the chance that it is not real. so we can only believe in something. Knowing something would mean being 100% sure about it. (which we cat because it would contredict the possibility of the evil genius.)
The evil genius that is described in Descartes first meditation is a polar opposite for god. Descartes says that he is all powerful and seeks to device you and that the senses can deceive a person and some subjects are relative to their environment are not true and if a evil genius were to be deceiving us to the extent of not knowing if a triangle has three side or not because of the evil genius putting memories of a triangle not having three side or making the four sided triangle look like it has three sides and we are then deceived. Also we cannot disregard this evil genius on the bases of being improbable because we cannot be certain that he/it does not exist. And furthermore if there is/was such an entity it does not have a rulebook that it has to follow (in my thoughts) and could only deceive us part of the time giving that this physical world around us is real and this evil genius is in some nether existence and can put false input to our senses and by this we cannot make the assumption that as we believe in a evil genius that one does not exist for that reason alone. But if the whole world even as I type this comment is an illusion and not real then everything would be deception including our physical bodies, and as due course our “minds” are is another place/time/nether plane and if so it would still be foolish to conclude that if such a thing were to exist that since all would be utter deception we can assume that a entity would by us “thinking” about it and it deceiving us that it does exist and therefore not exist because Descartes is only using this as a reason for now for nothing to be true and not as evidence that such a thing could not exist.
The evil genius is like the complete opposite of god. God is good type of supreme being, while the evil genius is bad. The point of the evil genius is to decieve us (humans). The evil genius is somewhat attached to our mind. He feeds us information are wrong, or can be wrong, since his whole point is to decieve us, we do not know. This allows Descartes to doubt even the most basic stuff like math because if the evil genius controls what we think, and his point in life is to decieve us, then we dont know what math is, we dont know about numbers,and colors, and all other things like that. The basic stuff that we know can be wrong because the basic stuff can be interpreted wrong and instead of 2+2=4, which is what we know, 2+2 could =5, which might be right, but we'll never know, or at least for now.
the evil genius is this all powerful person, who got the same powers as the traditional god, but he is evil
the evil genius is just a possibility. we have no way what so ever of knowing if he exists or not.
therefore, if we don't know if he exists, he just might. descartes says that if he does, this evil genius might be playing with our minds, messing up all our knowledge, maybe adding sides to triangles every time we count the side, or seeing red and thinking its blue everytime.
this is a very interesting concept- i really like it, and it just might be true. the evil genius doesnt have to be some supernatural guy waiting up there. the way i think of it is society itself, whoever invented math, and like thought of a triangle, and presumed it had 3 sides- thats part of it, whoever thought of colors first- maybe there are no colors, maybe its just something else- you know what i'm saying? the evil genius doesn't have to be just one supernatural god- it could just be the ignorance of humans, us being just so convinced that a triangle has 3 sides, no more no less, and that 2 +2 = 4, and us refusing to question these things at all. that could be the evil genius.
The idea of an "Evil Genius" is a god- like entity, powerful, all mighty and all knowing, but has evil motives and intentions. Descartes creates this concept to play devil's advocate. Since he has left behind all he "knew"/ and or believed, he takes all of what he "knew" and doubts the truth in such "facts". He supposes that since senses can be deceiving, perhaps there is a greater being behind them, trying to decieve us all. The Evil Genius lends the idea that we can't possibly, truely know anything! He goes on using this theory to construct a definition for "knowledge" and a definition for "beleifs". He comes to the conclusion that to know something means to be not mostly, but completely certain it is true. Beliefs are simply the opinions we have that motivate our actions. We live believing certain things, but may not know these things. The known things that can not be doubted,suddenly become doubtable, like Math because we don't know if we truely know these things, or if we're being manipulated by some evil genius.
The evil genius is a person plays a role like god, but in a devious way. The genius is omniscient and all seeing. He plus images and memories into us and controls what we do and when do them, but makes us think like there IS no evil genius, or that his existence can be doubted.
The reason that the most basic things can be doubted is because anything can be fake in the world. The evil genius could be manipulating us and our minds to cause us to think that some things are "true". Anything that we think is true is gathered by our senses. However, if the evil genius controls everything, INCLUDING our senses, he could technically be feeding fake images into us. Therefore, you can doubt anything you see, because even the most basic logic can be a hoax.
In life, we can doubt things like physics, astronomy, and medicine. This is because life as we now it may all be a dream and those things aren't very basic and can vary depending on our state. However, in a dream, basic things like math and colors will still be the same regardless of our state. But, Descartes mentions that even those things can be doubted if there was an evil genius. By this, he means that there is a possibility of a omnipotent bad god existing and that bad god can influence and alter the information the senses give us. So even if we do math and see colors, the information that is fed into our mind can be false. For example, if the evil genius is affecting our senses and we try to count the sides of a rectangle, we may count up to 5 sides; like this - 1, 2, 3, 5. We may count incorrectly due to the evil genius's influence on our senses.
Descartes, mentions the hypothetical example of an evil genius. This evil genius is similar to god, he is omnipotent, all knowing, but his sole purpose is to deceive us. This deception, comes from a distortion of the senses. In example, the reasonable mathematician, would state that 2+2=4. With the existence of the evil genius,(which one must assume exists, due to the fact ,that said entity has yet to be proven non-existent), one cannot be CERTAIN that 2+2 really equals four. Perhaps, the evils genius is deceiving us from realizing that 2+2 really equals banana. Thus we cannot be certain of anything, including things that were originally obvious, such as math, and colors. Knowledge, to Descartes,is synonymous to certainty, if we have any doubt about something, we cannot claim to know it.
12 comments:
The idea of an evil genius, for me, is frightening. In fact, everything that Descartes has explored so far in his meditations has disturbed in a semipermanent manner. I don't like waking up in the morning thinking that I might've actually just gone to sleep and am now dreaming. I don't like thinking that everything around me is a lie, and that I'm just being deceived by a god.
Descartes mentions an evil genius in his writing. This evil genius is similar to God in that he is all knowing and all powerful. However, he is NOT god because he hasn't created the world and doesn't benefit it in any way. This evil genius sneaks into your mind and connects himself to your brain, without your consent (obviously). He now controls your mind - all of your senses are deceiving you. Nothing you see, taste, feel, hear, or smell is the truth. You're just seeing what the evil genius wants you to see.
This is so controversial...I like having control of my own mind...
The evil genius is a person that is similar to god. He/She is all powerful and all knowing but he/she constantly wants to decieve people. He/She plugs into your brain and portarys images and information that you believe is fact or knowledge but in reality it isn't. For exmaple, when I go to sleep I "dream" and then when I wake up I am awake. But couldn't this be what the evil genius wants you to think and that you are really dreaming when you wake up and when you go to sleep your awake. This is why Descartes doubts basic things like math and colors because he can't be sure that reality and the facts of math and colors are real. There is doubt that this information or knowledge is false. Therefore we don't know anything because, for something to be knowledge it must be undoubtable. But we can doubt everything based on the evil genius theory, and that someone is controlling our mind.
Arman Warner
To Descartes this evil genius is some omnipresent powerful being that can exact his will on our minds to control what we know. It is like a nega-God or like Satan. What this means is that all we know can be a false reality an the world as we know it could and might as well be a nightmare of an awesome being. The reason that Descartes believes that this evil man could make him doubt simple things such as colors is because with his level of power (and exp points) he or she could easily manipulate our minds to believe anything. To me all this is a bunch of spit. It is just his expression of fear at not knowing his place or existance and to me it sounds as if he just wants answers to a simple question- What is our life? simple answer- who cares! you were given life by a more powerful being or energy or wateva! life your life and dont sweat the small stuff.
As Descartes states in the first Meditation, there might be existence of an "Evil Genius". He define the evil genius as a supreme being that have the same power that God have, but the evil genius is evil. And the evil genius deceives us, this is the evil's goal. Descartes say if this is the case, then even the most basic things such as Mathematics and colors can be doubted, because the evil genius have complete control over what we are thinking, everything we know comes from the evil genius, if the purpose of the evil genius is to deceive us, then everything we know is wrong since he's telling us the wrong things all the time. For example, we acknowledge red as red, but what if red isn't red? what if it's just what evil genius want us to think? Maybe red is blue, who knows?
Personally, I think Descartes is thinking too much. Even if red is blue, so? Even Descartes said that live your life still, believe what you believe, just know that it can be doubted, so then what's the purpose of all these thinking?
-Candy Lin.
the evil genius is used to represent the fact that the world as we know it may only exist in our minds. there is absolutly no way that anyone can say that there is no evil genius, we have no evidence that he doesnt exist and we will never be able to find any. the evil genius is controling all the input (our senses) that we get so anything that we learn about there not being an evil genius would be his way of hiding himself.
because there is that slim possibility that all that we know about the world is fake we cant be sure about anything. you may say that we can feel an object infront of us so it must be there, but the theory of the evil genius would state that the evil genius may just be making us feel it in our hands. Knowing that we cant disprove the the existance of the evil genus we cant be 100% sure about something, because there is always the chance that it is not real. so we can only believe in something. Knowing something would mean being 100% sure about it. (which we cat because it would contredict the possibility of the evil genius.)
The evil genius that is described in Descartes first meditation is a polar opposite for god. Descartes says that he is all powerful and seeks to device you and that the senses can deceive a person and some subjects are relative to their environment are not true and if a evil genius were to be deceiving us to the extent of not knowing if a triangle has three side or not because of the evil genius putting memories of a triangle not having three side or making the four sided triangle look like it has three sides and we are then deceived. Also we cannot disregard this evil genius on the bases of being improbable because we cannot be certain that he/it does not exist. And furthermore if there is/was such an entity it does not have a rulebook that it has to follow (in my thoughts) and could only deceive us part of the time giving that this physical world around us is real and this evil genius is in some nether existence and can put false input to our senses and by this we cannot make the assumption that as we believe in a evil genius that one does not exist for that reason alone. But if the whole world even as I type this comment is an illusion and not real then everything would be deception including our physical bodies, and as due course our “minds” are is another place/time/nether plane and if so it would still be foolish to conclude that if such a thing were to exist that since all would be utter deception we can assume that a entity would by us “thinking” about it and it deceiving us that it does exist and therefore not exist because Descartes is only using this as a reason for now for nothing to be true and not as evidence that such a thing could not exist.
The evil genius is like the complete opposite of god. God is good type of supreme being, while the evil genius is bad. The point of the evil genius is to decieve us (humans). The evil genius is somewhat attached to our mind. He feeds us information are wrong, or can be wrong, since his whole point is to decieve us, we do not know.
This allows Descartes to doubt even the most basic stuff like math because if the evil genius controls what we think, and his point in life is to decieve us, then we dont know what math is, we dont know about numbers,and colors, and all other things like that. The basic stuff that we know can be wrong because the basic stuff can be interpreted wrong and instead of 2+2=4, which is what we know, 2+2 could =5, which might be right, but we'll never know, or at least for now.
the evil genius is this all powerful person, who got the same powers as the traditional god, but he is evil
the evil genius is just a possibility. we have no way what so ever of knowing if he exists or not.
therefore, if we don't know if he exists, he just might. descartes says that if he does, this evil genius might be playing with our minds, messing up all our knowledge, maybe adding sides to triangles every time we count the side, or seeing red and thinking its blue everytime.
this is a very interesting concept- i really like it, and it just might be true. the evil genius doesnt have to be some supernatural guy waiting up there. the way i think of it is society itself, whoever invented math, and like thought of a triangle, and presumed it had 3 sides- thats part of it, whoever thought of colors first- maybe there are no colors, maybe its just something else- you know what i'm saying? the evil genius doesn't have to be just one supernatural god- it could just be the ignorance of humans, us being just so convinced that a triangle has 3 sides, no more no less, and that 2 +2 = 4, and us refusing to question these things at all. that could be the evil genius.
The idea of an "Evil Genius" is a god- like entity, powerful, all mighty and all knowing, but has evil motives and intentions. Descartes creates this concept to play devil's advocate. Since he has left behind all he "knew"/ and or believed, he takes all of what he "knew" and doubts the truth in such "facts". He supposes that since senses can be deceiving, perhaps there is a greater being behind them, trying to decieve us all. The Evil Genius lends the idea that we can't possibly, truely know anything! He goes on using this theory to construct a definition for "knowledge" and a definition for "beleifs". He comes to the conclusion that to know something means to be not mostly, but completely certain it is true. Beliefs are simply the opinions we have that motivate our actions. We live believing certain things, but may not know these things. The known things that can not be doubted,suddenly become doubtable, like Math because we don't know if we truely know these things, or if we're being manipulated by some evil genius.
The evil genius is a person plays a role like god, but in a devious way. The genius is omniscient and all seeing. He plus images and memories into us and controls what we do and when do them, but makes us think like there IS no evil genius, or that his existence can be doubted.
The reason that the most basic things can be doubted is because anything can be fake in the world. The evil genius could be manipulating us and our minds to cause us to think that some things are "true". Anything that we think is true is gathered by our senses. However, if the evil genius controls everything, INCLUDING our senses, he could technically be feeding fake images into us. Therefore, you can doubt anything you see, because even the most basic logic can be a hoax.
Alexander Kiladze
In life, we can doubt things like physics, astronomy, and medicine. This is because life as we now it may all be a dream and those things aren't very basic and can vary depending on our state. However, in a dream, basic things like math and colors will still be the same regardless of our state. But, Descartes mentions that even those things can be doubted if there was an evil genius. By this, he means that there is a possibility of a omnipotent bad god existing and that bad god can influence and alter the information the senses give us. So even if we do math and see colors, the information that is fed into our mind can be false. For example, if the evil genius is affecting our senses and we try to count the sides of a rectangle, we may count up to 5 sides; like this - 1, 2, 3, 5. We may count incorrectly due to the evil genius's influence on our senses.
Descartes, mentions the hypothetical example of an evil genius. This evil genius is similar to god, he is omnipotent, all knowing, but his sole purpose is to deceive us. This deception, comes from a distortion of the senses. In example, the reasonable mathematician, would state that 2+2=4. With the existence of the evil genius,(which one must assume exists, due to the fact ,that said entity has yet to be proven non-existent), one cannot be CERTAIN that 2+2 really equals four. Perhaps, the evils genius is deceiving us from realizing that 2+2 really equals banana. Thus we cannot be certain of anything, including things that were originally obvious, such as math, and colors. Knowledge, to Descartes,is synonymous to certainty, if we have any doubt about something, we cannot claim to know it.
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