Thursday, September 28, 2006

Mitchel Verter, Ph.D Thesis 1996 (Notes)

Throughout his work, he attempts to overcome the possibility of doubt in order to secure control over the contingencies of his cognitive world. Descartes does so by creating a spectatorial position for a detached subject, separating it from the external world. [Where's that subject located to be more specific?]

Descartes distinguishes between two visual faculties which the mental eye employs: the power of imagination and the power of understanding. Descartes explains this distinction: “When the mind understands, it in some way turns towards itself and inspects one of the ideas which are within it; but when it imagines, it turns towards the body and looks at something in the body which conforms to an idea understood by the mind or perceived by the senses.” [Philosophical Writings]

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