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From Aristotle - comes from Greek ousia (being) and Latin substantia (ground which stands under things)
'Substance' is the fundamental reality of being, which allows for particular individuals to exist - it is the thing that qualities inhere in ('stick to') which allows the thing to subsist over time
Wax is substance - it is the general being that is then imprinted with particular qualities (signet ring)
This is key for Descartes' argument in Med. 3, where he argues that only God could cause the idea of perfection and infinity associated with God - the idea of God is the 'mark of a craftsman'
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If God is perfect, and I am created by God, why do I err? It can't be caused by God
Have idea of perfection and idea of nothingness - and humans are b/n being (G) and non-being
Error can't be mere negation - it's not a lack of a capacity
Errors depend on both faculty of knowledge and will
Intellect doesn't affirm or deny anything
The will is most free when it has a strong inclination in one direction - state of indifference is the least perfect kind of freedom (20)
Buridan's Ass
Descartes says he is a thinking thing - an incorporeal/abstract/mental substance
This is distinguished from extended substance
Error is privation caused by the misuse of the will
Why do we need the will?
Ideas of things like quantity or triangles don't come from me
"...my mind is so constituted that I have to assent to these geometrical propositions as long as I perceive them."
If you clearly and distinctly perceive X, then you can know that it has X property. God's perfection means G's existence and essence are inseparable - G necessarily exists as part of idea of G
This provides the sure foundation for knowledge
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Are our wills actually the cause of error? What other causes might exist?
How do we overcome disagreements about facts? Is it possible to get someone to 'see' their error?
Does the foundation of knowledge have to be God? What else might serve as the foundation in a secular account? Or do we have to give up foundationalism?
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