final course, ice cream, june 13, 2005

Descartes 哲一智 493032155 黃展成

René Descartes (1596-1650)

Yesterday I made a dream, in the dream, I saw a man, and I talked to him many things, his name is René Descartes

Daniel:Wow, where am I ? So many things I"ve never seen.
Descartes:We all in your dream, and I come to here for your English report.
Daniel:Really? Thank you so much. So, you are René Descartes, right?
Descartes:Yes, now I live in heaven, but you need me to solve your problem, I am a franch but I learn English in heaven,
so you can talk to me in English.
Daniel:Ohh, that wonderful, everybody say you have great achievement on math and philosophy, so I have to ask you some questions
about phiolophy, math is too difficult to me.
Descartes:Ok, come on.
Daniel:Many people say you are father of modren philosophy, how do you think?
Descartes:Oh, I don't know this compellation, maybe I bring new though, modren oriention and new spirit on philosophy,
and I like this compellation, sounds good.
Daniel:I read your biography, when you was 22, you joined army, why?
Descartes:Beacause I graduated from university, I want to learn more things, books can't appease me, so I decided
to join army, it a very ideal way to see more things.
Daniel:Oh, I see, and why do you live in Holland so many years?
Descartes:Because Holland is a peaceful and free country, and I can do many things here, writting, reading, even toot dope,
that a joke.
Daniel:Oh, your joke is so cold, just like professor Tang. So you wrote many books in Holland, please talk about them.
Descartes:Sure, I wrote Discours de la method(方法導論), Le Monde, ou Traite de la Lumiere(光學), Meditationes de prima phiosophia(沈思錄), Principia philosophiae(哲學原理) and Les passions de l'ame(心靈感受). Oh, I am sorry, all the half titles
are Frensh, maybe you can't read them.
Daniel:Don't worry, professor Tang will solve the problem. French is very easy to him. We've talk about your books, then can you explain what is thought?
Descartes: Sure, thought is everything we've touched, not only means intellgere, velle, imagine, but also means cogitare. Although when I looking, walking or talking I can say I am. But if I think walking is leg motion, then this conclusion we can't absolutely sure. Because when I in dream, I also can think that I can walking.
Daniel:Oh, I see, now I'm talking to you in my dreamin your thought, dream is not real, so maybe it not real, right?
Descartes: Yeah, Daniel, you're pretty smart. I emphasize that entity is real subsistent. Dream is just a thought, not a entity. Do you understand?
Daniel:Yes, I got it. I readed your books, and you have a very famous saying " I think there I am" in French is " Cogito, ergo sum" can you talk about that?
Descartes:Yeah, ok. If we want to research truth, the first step is doubt anything in the world, and everything that we image and everything that touched by our feeling, and sometimes feeling mistake, it is very fool that we trust them, and in dreams we can image many phenomenon, but actually they are not being.
Daniel:I know, it is your theory of knowledge.
Descartes:Yeah, so I think we should doubt anything, even the most tiny thing, but the only thing we can't doubt is we are doubting. That will be antinomy.
Daniel:Oh, I see, thank you. Can we trust our feeling? Because many philosopher don't trust feeling, how about you?
Descartes:Actually, I don't trust feeling, too. Because I think the conclusions feeled by feeling can't adjust clear conception.
Daniel:And why our feeling often mistake?
Descartes:I think there are many devil in our world, these devil lie our feeling let our feeling can't touch the real world.
Daniel:Oh, you've said clear conception, can you explain more?
Descartes:Ok, I think human is very clear conception, so God is a more clear and perfect conception, and God is omnipotence.
Daniel:Wait, I got a interesting question, can you answer me this question?
Descartes:Oh, yes com on.
Daniel:If human make a robot like Doraemon(哆拉a夢，傳說中的小叮噹), is this robot entity?
Descartes:Oh, that is a very very interesting question, actually, I can't image in the future that human will make a robot which can think. But in my mind I think this robot is a entity, because it can think, make a judgement and doubt, according to my doctrine Doraemon is a entity if it made in the future.
Daniel:That beck to feeling, how do we feel?
Descartes:We should know our soul is located in head, and sense transmit by nerve, like a system, when feeling touched by things, nerve will transmit sense to head, head feel the feeling, and send the message to soul.
Daniel:And what is life?
Descartes:Life is a clear conception, and we also can call it soul, but it should combine with body.
Daniel:Oh, I got so many things in this dialogue, and one more question, what is math.
Descartes:You konw, I am not only a philosopher but also a mathematician, for math, I just say, math formula is a beautiful truth.
Daniel:Actually, math is a very imporant subject, but I can't learn it well, can you teach me ?
Descartes:Of course, but, I'm very busy, I can't teach you math in your dream every night, but that ok, after you die, we will discuss math everyday in heaven.
Daniel:.................., o........ok. Thank you so much, after I die, I will, now I have to wake, nice talk to you, good bye.
Descartes:Nice talk to you too, good bye.