A Guide to Philosophy in Six Hours and Fifteen Minutes by Witold Gombrowicz, Benjamin Ivry
Authors: Witold Gombrowicz, Benjamin Ivry
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First Lesson
Sunday, April 27, 1969
Referendum *
Kant 1724–1804
Beginning of modern thought.
One could also say that this is Descartes (beginning of the 17th century).
Descartes: a single important idea: absolute doubt .
Here rationalism begins: subject everything to absolute doubt, until the moment when reason forces us to accept an idea.
(Basis for the phenomenology of Husserl)—subject: thinking self—object: opera glasses—table—the idea of an object which forms in my consciousness.
Descartes reduces these three aspects of knowledge.
I am certain that this is in my consciousness but does not correspond to reality.For example, the centaur.
Systematic doubt.Puts the world in doubt, in parentheses:1.the object.
2.everything involving the object.
The only certainty is that they exist in my consciousness .
In parentheses:the idea of God;
the sciences which relate to reality (supposedly objective): sociology, psychology, except for the abstract sciences; mathematics and logic, because they do not concern the outside world, but are laws for my own consciousness.
What is Descartes’ great error, “deviation” (to use Husserl’s term)? Descartes feared the terrifying consequences of his ideas.He tries to show the objective reality of God—and therefore of the world (as God’s creation).
Descartes’ fear is similar to that of Sartre.Because of it, all his later philosophy was distorted.For Descartes, the important thing is Discourse on the Method . TO ELIMINATE THE OBJECT: Descartes’ great idea.
Philosophy begins to deal with consciousness as something fundamental.Imagine an absolute night, with a single object.If this object does not encounter a consciousness capable of sensing its existence, then it does not exist.
There is no individual consciousness, but consciousness in general.
(The brain’s consciousness, etc.)The dog.
Descartes, precursor of modern thought.
KantBerkeley (rural youth)Hume.
KantNewton, especially.
Descartes.
Kant is based on rational knowledge, organized scientifically.Influenced by Newton.
Works: Critique of Pure Reason; Critique of Practical Reason
Kant’s big thing: Critique of Pure Reason .
It is not about a critique of pure reason; we want to judge our own consciousness. Consciousness judged by consciousness .Example: can we be sure of the existence of God through philosophical deduction?
Questions: to what extent can one be sure about consciousness?To what extent can consciousness be authentic?
Kant’s reasoning in the Critique of Pure Reason , even expressed obscurely, is:Everything that we know about the world is expressed in judgments.
For example, “I exist,” and a conditional judgment, “If I kick Dominique, * he’ll kick me twice.”
This is the connection of causality .
Judgments are analytical or synthetic.
Analytical judgments are those which derive from analysis, dissecting a whole into its significant parts.Kant says that analytical judgments add nothing to our knowledge because they underscore an element of their definition.
Example, the definition of man: living being, mammal, etc. Take the notion “living”: “man is a living being.”Why?Because there is decomposition.It is a concept drawn from another concept, in other words, an element drawn from the definition.
Synthetic judgments .A different approach: adding something.Therefore they enrich our knowledge of the world.
Synthetic judgments have no a priori value ( a priori: independent of any experience).
Synthetic judgments are a posteriori , in other words, based on experience.
Example: water boils when it reaches a certain degree of heat.
Enrichment of our knowledge.New phenomenon in our understanding of the world.
A posteriori judgments are not always accurate.Example: there is no guarantee that water will begin to boil again on the 10,000th try.
Kant seeks precision.He grips reality.A solid mind.
Nevertheless, there are some synthetic judgments which are a priori
Sunday, April 27, 1969
Referendum *
Kant 1724–1804
Beginning of modern thought.
One could also say that this is Descartes (beginning of the 17th century).
Descartes: a single important idea: absolute doubt .
Here rationalism begins: subject everything to absolute doubt, until the moment when reason forces us to accept an idea.
(Basis for the phenomenology of Husserl)—subject: thinking self—object: opera glasses—table—the idea of an object which forms in my consciousness.
Descartes reduces these three aspects of knowledge.
I am certain that this is in my consciousness but does not correspond to reality.For example, the centaur.
Systematic doubt.Puts the world in doubt, in parentheses:1.the object.
2.everything involving the object.
The only certainty is that they exist in my consciousness .
In parentheses:the idea of God;
the sciences which relate to reality (supposedly objective): sociology, psychology, except for the abstract sciences; mathematics and logic, because they do not concern the outside world, but are laws for my own consciousness.
What is Descartes’ great error, “deviation” (to use Husserl’s term)? Descartes feared the terrifying consequences of his ideas.He tries to show the objective reality of God—and therefore of the world (as God’s creation).
Descartes’ fear is similar to that of Sartre.Because of it, all his later philosophy was distorted.For Descartes, the important thing is Discourse on the Method . TO ELIMINATE THE OBJECT: Descartes’ great idea.
Philosophy begins to deal with consciousness as something fundamental.Imagine an absolute night, with a single object.If this object does not encounter a consciousness capable of sensing its existence, then it does not exist.
There is no individual consciousness, but consciousness in general.
(The brain’s consciousness, etc.)The dog.
Descartes, precursor of modern thought.
KantBerkeley (rural youth)Hume.
KantNewton, especially.
Descartes.
Kant is based on rational knowledge, organized scientifically.Influenced by Newton.
Works: Critique of Pure Reason; Critique of Practical Reason
Kant’s big thing: Critique of Pure Reason .
It is not about a critique of pure reason; we want to judge our own consciousness. Consciousness judged by consciousness .Example: can we be sure of the existence of God through philosophical deduction?
Questions: to what extent can one be sure about consciousness?To what extent can consciousness be authentic?
Kant’s reasoning in the Critique of Pure Reason , even expressed obscurely, is:Everything that we know about the world is expressed in judgments.
For example, “I exist,” and a conditional judgment, “If I kick Dominique, * he’ll kick me twice.”
This is the connection of causality .
Judgments are analytical or synthetic.
Analytical judgments are those which derive from analysis, dissecting a whole into its significant parts.Kant says that analytical judgments add nothing to our knowledge because they underscore an element of their definition.
Example, the definition of man: living being, mammal, etc. Take the notion “living”: “man is a living being.”Why?Because there is decomposition.It is a concept drawn from another concept, in other words, an element drawn from the definition.
Synthetic judgments .A different approach: adding something.Therefore they enrich our knowledge of the world.
Synthetic judgments have no a priori value ( a priori: independent of any experience).
Synthetic judgments are a posteriori , in other words, based on experience.
Example: water boils when it reaches a certain degree of heat.
Enrichment of our knowledge.New phenomenon in our understanding of the world.
A posteriori judgments are not always accurate.Example: there is no guarantee that water will begin to boil again on the 10,000th try.
Kant seeks precision.He grips reality.A solid mind.
Nevertheless, there are some synthetic judgments which are a priori
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