but I want you to remember this metaphysics building with fiction modern metaphysics building with fiction.
it was not true in a restart unless metaphysics, of course not a restless metaphysics begins with surprise, we are inquiring about the causes because we are surprised by certain phenomenon us, but you can often or may not but with the Descartes metaphysics begins with fiction, so when I told you at the very beginning of our meetings, that fictions played an important law in the birth of modern western philosophy.
you see I was quite serious told you about science, mechanics, astronomy, I’m now talking about metaphysics, I would like to give you another example, in order to prove that Descartes is not the only one to proceed like this way, and then we will come back to the Descartes for moments, I know for example of such an opening up of first philosophy metaphysic, through a fifty, supposition, another example sample which same aims to be very similar to laws of the astronomers, sure a purely abstract supposition, this example is also very well known.
so you have to get id, and I take it in Hobbes, perhaps you know he is very important place in the history of political ids, but Hobbes who also objected the values agreements to Descartes by the way, Hobbes wrote a remarkable first philosophy of the metaphysic, what is this false to position in Hobbes, you will find that kind of civilization in many text of western philosophy today till the twenty century, the supposition in Hobbes is any less your Monday, destruction of the world.
the destruction of the world, I told you, he wrote objections to the supposition of experience, this is clearly a sort experiment in metaphysics, an id is district description of the world, is clearly a thought experiment, this thought experiment is all relevant to us, because it is not produced with the same god of as a Cartesian adopted, Hobbes doesn't have the same goal, so it is also more relevant to us, that even considering quoting as a gold Hobbes, is beginning is also beginning to researcher false to supposition.
the Cartesian adopted what does it produce, well in fact, he replicates he refuses replicates all the images of the world, as well as the elements that compose those images for instance, mathematical ids, the Descartes is refusing all those images of the world, and their elements in order to achieve the ego that seems those images, Descartes replicates refuses all the images of the world, and comes to the only delete.
so I write it like this one, we have various images of the world, we have to consider that all false and we have to really read to reject them, we shall not start with images, and we discover only because to that we cannot adopt, Hobbes does not at all had the same goal, the fiction he develops does not claim in any way, to discover a perfectly pure foundation for knowledge.
this is not what Hobbes is not searching some kind of perfectly pure foundation for knowledge, so this is Descartes law, all the country Hobbes establishes, that this and will show Monday the destruction of the world this unease as humanly would leave the mind, the minds of human mind cleared completely in disorder cluttered with phenomenal representations. we will still have genius images in the mind, even if the world were distracted, what is discovering Hobbes through this supposition, not the ego or the Cartesian, what is he discovering if that's a mind will still contain their use phenomenon in our representations, even if their objects were distracted, that is Hobbes starting point.
we have images in mind we have various images that is to say phenomenal representations in mind, and therefore that is Hobbes main phases in metaphysics for those images representations are the only objects of our knowledge, all we know consist in laws phenomenon in our representations.
we don't have a direct access to the external world, we only deal with images or be more precise phenomenal representations, so after the angelus Monday what Hobbes discovers that the objects, not only the object, where is it seems outside would be distracted, and still the mind will contain values phenomenal representations as you see.
the use of the fiction is common to both, but in quite a different goal, well let's read the text why Hobbes posed these thought experiment several times, I choose the text, I could have taken another one there be in our minds continually certain images are conceptions of the six without us that if a man could be alive and all the rest of the world any high related.
we should nevertheless retain the a mind self and of all those things which we had before seen and perceived in it, everyone by these own experience, which is pretty important, because it means that we don't have any ids, all our ids come from experience, and those ids, those ages we would keep them in our minds, even if the object their objects and the world in which those objects are organized would be destroyed.
just one more word and I hear your question I listen to the question.
well something that interests me very much ，here I told you this on Monday very quickly, and it would be very important, because we may ask when does Hobbes here has something to do with fictions， when does it happen？
well I have some hypothesis here, Hobbes fiction reactivate and I see its remarkable, about in philosophy，he metaphysics the very close link that in astronomy, also sheets fifty hypothesis, we phenomena, that is the point, so when those philosophy he has something to do with fictions, when it deals with phenomena, that is something that we are going to prove later, but what is very obvious that is that Hobbes reactivity.
here this link between first suppositions or fifty hypothesis and phenomena each other aims for more achieves, the first irrelative principle through a dissolution of all representations, as they Descartes did not at all, it reviews what we could called the general shape of phenomenology, the general shape of phenomenology, that is for human mind and be killed it comes by his own experience general shape, of phenomenology and empirical shape.
so we have here another occurrence of this link between fictions and phenomenon, it's let's now return to the Descartes, but it was important for me to tell you about Hobbes for at least three reasons, first as I told you I want to give you an introduction to early western philosophy, and Hobbes plays a great law, in that moment, second it gives me an order occurrence of the way those feel as a first enter in philosophy, beginning the first philosophy with fictions, and the third reason is that of course here, we have an author manifestation of this link between fiction and phenomenon.
it's so remembers, however, let's return to Descartes, what Descartes says about phase superstitions in the rules, the importance of supposition in the quest for truth, what Descartes says, easy and answer it to get things in the text of the meditations, Descartes does not declare and now let's consider offensive positions not at all, this is his serious theoretical view on what he did in the meditation.
I told you this was important, see the rejection of knowledge, all knowledge is, the rejection of knowledge which we suppose may contain some double true elements, this is the rule, we have to reject any knowledge, which we suppose may contain adopt full elements.
in fact into meditation, this way to reject knowledge does not fall and as a stripe of abstract hypothesis, it is the case in Descartes answer to the id, not in the text it is part of a narrative, I told you how important it was, it's about of analogy, and in this way it is in this way as a part of a relative, it is in this where according to me, that the face supposition mentioned in Descartes, reply to Gath Sandy, retains the director of a true fiction.
we at first your suppositions, but it is because they are part of a relative that they retains the character of true fictions, that is to say I mean something quite precise, a story, the story of mine, I have some proof for this, perhaps you remember, I mentioned Descartes most systematic book last time, that is to say the principles of philosophy, you're in principles of philosophy are published in four meditations forty one, and the first part of the principles of philosophy is about metaphysic, and of course， Descartes exposes in this system view the humans.
say this and so on, that he elaborated in the meditations, but precisely, there are some differences and those differences are very important to us, in the principles, Descartes it seems is still adopting the mathematical ids, but he does not mention this evil demon anymore, it disappears, this evil demon mentioned in the meditations in forty one disappeared in forty four.
this is very significant, one may wonder why the Descartes imagined this evil demon. it's a bit strange of course he's not at all talking about god, not at all, this is a pure fiction. one may consider, but the evil demon fill with a psychological function in the meditations, he has a psychological function, that is to say feeling an evil demon world in some way, might would make it possible to contain the mind, to keep the mind in the attitude of adopt.
this is some kind of literary decision, then shining feelings is a real demon contains the nineties attitude and the attitude of stopped to achieve the same things, that seem as certain as the demonstrations produce in the pure mathematical sciences, to achieve, these things, to doped to doubt mathematical ids, we have to produce a certain attitude of the mind, that is the reason why they got is mentioning this fiction of an evil demon, in the meditations, pay attention to it, the evils demon is invented to achieve mathematical demonstrations.
it is remarkable according to me, from my point of view, it's quite remarkable and it comes as a surprise, that he returns to a manifestly false fiction, it's obvious it returns to a manifestly failed station to dissolve to distract the most solid experience, this remarkable, this fiction is obviously false for anyone, but however he tells us to achieve mathematics, it has to dissolve the most solid experience, this gives you an id of the importance of fictions in decades as I told you.
this figure disappears in the systematic view of the principles of philosophy, it plays a rule in the meditations in the relative, but it disappears in the systematic book, of course it does not lead Descartes to the disappearance of the doubt, that he ended eyes in the meditations, mathematical ids, do for under suspicion in the principles.
but what it signals, my view what it signals you see this disappearance of the evil demon, what teaching else is the elimination of the story, what disappears is the story telling, it signals a parents of the elimination of the story given in forty one, be understood that he is specifically relative third dimension generates, the dimension of reasons for adopt, which beyond simple suppositions, beyond that, this was in Descartes reply, beyond simple sense to suppositions.
the most clearly end of eyes, the character of fiction, that fiction those reasons of doubt are fictions not only because they are false accusations, this is very important, because, they belong to a story, they are part of a relative the fiction of the evil dead demon.
it's dimension social, its function in so far, but it is on the right in the relative of the meditating a goal, of the meditating self, this fiction acquires its sanction in so far, at it is embodied in the relatives of the meditating ego, otherwise, let's be frank, otherwise it would review its genuine opportunity.
it will not resist it would reveal its genuine opportunity, so please before our short break, listen to this.
by examining this example, this example borrowed from metaphysics, we can identify a crucial trade, a crucial dimension of Cartesian fiction, which fundamentally defines, it's admissibility in the rational of humans, it is not admissible unless it is given within a story, it's not admissible unless it is given within a story.
so maybe it's going surprise you, but it is of the deepest importance, this character of Cartesian fiction being a narrative, this character will be very helpful to understand the way. Descartes is mobilizing fictions in physics, we are going to see that after the break, and these narrative dimension is the reason why after the Descartes, until the eighteenth century, philosopher still refer to the Cartesian use of fictions.
you will see it later after short break, perhaps you could prepare your questions, if there are only about details I will answer them after the break, if you have more important questions at the end of the lecture, we will do as we did the same the last time, it was good so we may take twenty minutes for your questions on the end.