Author: Fix
Editors: Chickes the Alphaest, Fool the Skibdididi alpha sigma mix (fixie's lil kouhai>.<)
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Day 3: Descartes' Second Meditation Part 1
As the final few students settled into their chairs, I looked down at my lectures once more, steadying myself.
Facing the classroom, I could feel their eyes boring holes into my skull.
'I guess they're just as curious as I was. The cliffhanger must have left them with blue balls for a whole 48 hours!'
With that thought in mind, I finally released them of their anxiety.
"So, this evil genius is now fully deceiving us, we can not trust anything our senses tell us anymore, so, is there anything that you all think that is something we can still 100% believe in?"
"Yes, you there."
"Our mathematical and logical beliefs, sir."
"Exactly. You're completely correct. Because mathematics and logic are not derived from our senses, rather, they are constructs of our own minds, we can still believe in them."
"Using this fact, we can prove the existence of ourselves as thinking things."
"You can think about it like this. If this evil genius truly is an absolute deceiver, he must be deceiving something, no?"
"Thus, even in this worst case scenario, wherein we are in doubt of everything in this world, we are still left with one fact."
"That, as long as we think and are being deceived, we exist."
"Thus, I think, I exist."
"Now, this will be our first step towards our proof. It is also the universal truth that holds up all modern philosophy that comes afterwards."
"Next class, we'll discuss whether we can prove anything else about our existence. The class after will be the day we finally "prove" that a god exists. Any questions?"
"Yes, you there."
"What if the evil genius is deceiving our thought processes as well?"
"Well, Descartes would say that…"
~~~
Day 4: Descartes' Second Meditation Part 2
"Descartes then ponders the existence of a body."
I was able to start my class immediately today, as even the stragglers had shown up a few minutes early to class.
"The easy answer he could give is that, because we only know of the body through our senses, we can't believe in it 100%, which means that a body doesn't exist in our state of absolute doubt."
"Of course, this alone is quite unbelievable, even for Descartes, and so he brings up another thought experiment to fully separate the body from the mind, allowing us to discard it."
"Imagine a scenario wherein you are placing a wax candle in front of a fireplace. You then walk away and come back in three hours. Therein is the wax candle, now a white mess on the floor. How do you know that the white blob is the same entity as the wax candle?"
"Because we have rational thought, Mr. Schapiro."
"Good, good, and so what does this entail?"
"The body can completely change form and we'd recognize that something is different. Yet, the mind never changes form. Thus, the mind is obviously a different entity from the body, as it can't change form…"
"...And this entails that the body has no connection to the mind, which means we can't prove that it exists in this state of absolute doubt."
Finishing his sentence for him because he had started trailing off, I nodded at his good attempt and moved forward.
"After this, Descartes realizes that he can only use his mind to prove the existence of god, and that is where we will end it for the day. Next class, we'll finally get to Meditations 3 and 4 wherein Descartes proves the existence of a god. Have a good day, class."
~~~
Day 5: Descartes' Third and Fourth Meditations
I dived straight in, there was no need for me to hold back anymore.
"Alright, we established last time that we can only use our mind to prove the existence of a god."
"Herein, Descartes introduces us to three types of ideas, innate, adventitious, and factitious ideas."
"Innate ideas are those that we are born with, they come from what we perceive as nothing (like our instincts), adventitious ideas come from outside sources (stuff we believe due to our senses), and factitious ideas are ideas that we get after pondering in our mind (like the conclusion of the first part of the second meditation)."
"Now, Descartes argues that our idea of a god is an innate idea. He argues that we, as finite beings, can not be the cause of the idea of a finite being. Herein, the reality of the cause must be as great or greater than the reality of the effect."
"Thus, we were not the cause of our idea of god."
"After all, our idea of a god is that they are omniscient, omnipotent, and good."
"Why must the god be good?"
"Because being "good" is a prerequisite for being perfect, Descartes would argue."
"Anyways, because the reality of the cause must be as great as its effect, and nothing else has more reality than god, then god must be the cause of the idea of perfect, infinite being."
"Thus, there exists a perfect, infinite god that exists and that put the idea of a perfect infinite god into our minds."
I let this soak in a bit, and sure enough, hands started to raise.
"But how can we actually perceive the idea of infinity if we are finite beings?"
"Descartes would argue that because we are finite, and know of the idea of finality, we must also be able to conceive of the opposite, infinity."
This argument was immediately met with backlash from the students.
"So, let me get this straight, we can't think of an infinite perfect being ourselves, so a god must have put that thought in us, but we can also think of infinity because we are finite? Isn't there a contradiction here?"
"Yes, there is, and that is one of the reasons why this proof has been discredited various times over the years."
Putting my hand up, I stopped the students that seemed on the edge of an outburst.
"Let me finish the second proof, and then you all can ask questions next class."
I waited for them to quiet down before I continued.
"In the fourth meditation, Descartes actually brings up another proof of god. He states that there are certain things in this world that are inseparable. Hmm let's see… Yes, you there."
"Like a triangle must have three sides?"
"Yes, exactly. In our minds, the idea of a triangle is inseparable from the idea that it must have three sides, three vertices, and angles that add up to two right angles."
"So, expanding on this, isn't "existence" inseparable from "perfection'?"
"If something is perfect, it must exist, right?"
"Thus, Descartes argues that, because we think of a god as a perfect being, that inherently comes with existence, thus, a god exists."
"Anyways, class, that's all the time we have for today. Please compile a list of questions for me and we'll have the whole fifty minutes next class for the discussion."
This time, all I heard was the sounds of furious scribbles on paper as I left the class.
In the end, my class had to be kicked out by the students of the next class that needed the room.
~~~
(A/N: From this point forward, read everything, no more only bolded stuff.)
[300 Years Later]
The ground had been permanently dyed red in blood, the ravens were in a frenzy flying in a sky which had been saturated by gray clouds of smoke, and all around him were the broken bodies of the last remaining vestiges of humanity.
Taking off his gas mask, the sole human left on the planet inhaled the "crimson fog" deep into his lungs.
Seemingly, there was nothing left for him to do in this world. There was no more joy left for him here.
As his eyes grew heavy and his chest stopped moving, he smiled a bitter smile.
"So there was no god in this world after all…"
Thud
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A/N: I hope that didn't bore y'all too much. I unfortunately had to include these last two chapters to give you all a glimpse into the mind of a phil major.
As for the argument in it of itself, it's shit, there are many holes in it, but it's one of the greatest group of meditations of all time because the proof that "I am, I exist" is literally the proof that is the basis of all other philosophy. It's the one part that doesn't have any objections unless you are a postmodernist philosopher. If you can only take one thing away from these two chapters, it'd be that proof.
Anyways, the real meat of the fanfic will start in the next chapter.
Also, the ending there is meant to connect this ff to an apocalypse novel that I've had on the burner for about half a year now. More coming on that in like, February.
I'll cy'all then!