Sometimes, I think our professors are brainwashing us...

Ah, to hearken back to the days of yore...and by yore I mean my freshman year with Dr. Mashburn, and by Mashburn I am referring to my reading of Descartes' Meditations in his Philosophy 101 my first semester. Beyond that, I am referring to my reading of Edwards' Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God my tenth grade year in old Coach Tuggle's class. Good times. However, I much prefer the present as my understanding and desire to learn have both significantly increased since.

So, Descartes. What a loaded passage! I could have stayed in class for another three hours at least the other day just to pry through this. So many heavy words like "utility" and "accidents"--both of which I fear for multiple reasons:
"Now although the utility of a doubt so general may not be manifest at first sight, it is nevertheless of the greatest, since it delivers us from all prejudice, and affords the easiest pathway by which the mind may withdraw itself from the sense; and finally makes it impossible for us to doubt wherever we afterward discover truth."
"...the human mind is not made up of accidents, but is a pure substance."
Benthem and Aquinas meet Descartes...what a dinner party that would be. For the freshmen, Betham's concept of utility is actions based on consequences (pleasure vs. pain) while Aquinas' accidents are attributes which do not affect the essence of a being. Now with those being what we are merely picking at right now, I can only imagine what sort of brain fever (ahem, Dr. Mitchell) we will be getting into.

At the heart of it, what I have drawn from Descartes is more than likely incorrect, but I could not help but think that he has a point to prove by moving beyond having faith. It seems he is attempting to approach something more tangible that others who have never known faith of any sort may at least ATTEMPT to understand (atheists, agnostics, etc.). It appears to me, Descartes is almost enticing relativists and their uncertainty into his playground of the mind. Correct me, please?

One final thought, am I the only one who feels that George Orwell may have read a lot of Descartes?

Saving my thoughts on Edwards for class,
Sam.

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