Descartes' Meditations on First, philosophy homework help

Descartes tells us that, in order to see what is real, we must first doubt all we know with our senses. Our senses can deceive us. Are we dreaming? Are we being manipulated by an evil genius? Are we living in The Matrix where we are waiting for Keanu Reaves to rescue us? (I suppose that would be the most disturbing option!)

In this case, we want to get at this notion of doubt. We will be reading from Descartes' Meditations on First Philosophy.

It is recommended that students read the first six meditations of Descartes' Meditations on First Philosophy. The FULL TEXT can be found here:

Descartes, R. (n.d.). Meditations On First Philosophy. Retrieved December 29, 2015, fromhttp://selfpace.uconn.edu/class/percep/DescartesMeditations.pdf

Is Descartes' argument against trusting the senses a good one? What appeals to you most, and what do you find odd?

Assignment Expectations

Please answer the question above, carefully referencing the text, in a paper of no more than 3- to 5-pages.

BACKGROUND READING: if needed

GAP Group (2008). Descartes (2007). Retrieved on August 29, 2007, from http://www-gap.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Descartes.html

Descartes, R. (n.d.). Meditations On First Philosophy. Retrieved December 29, 2015, fromhttp://selfpace.uconn.edu/class/percep/DescartesMeditations.pdf

Wozniak, R. (2005). Mind and body: Rene Descates to William James (2007). Retrieved on August 29, 2007, from http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/Mind/Table.html

Chalmers, D. (n.d.). David Chalmers. Retrieved on August 29, 2007, fromhttp://consc.net/chalmers/.

DiText (n.d.). Meta-encyclopedia of philosophy.. Retrieved on August 29, 2007, fromhttp://www.ditext.com/encyc/frame.html

Nagel, T. (1974). What is it like to be a bat? Philosophical Review 83 (4): 435-50.

Educational Broadcasting Corp. (2010) Inside the animal mind (Video). Retrieved on August 29, 2007, from http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/inside-the-animal-mind-introduction/2081/

PBS (2010). A murder of crows (video). Retrieved on 17 Feb 2010 from http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/a-murder-of-crows-full-episode/5977/

Stanford (2010). Animal consciousness. Retrieved on August 29, 2007, fromhttp://plato.stanford.edu/entries/consciousness-animal/