Descartes Say About Primary Qualities

Descartes Say About Primary Qualities Rene Descartes and John Locke both have similar theories about primary qualities. They both hold the same position on what is that primary qualities are. Both of them believe that primary qualities have the power to cause ideas in our minds. The main distinction between their theories lies in whether primary qualities are perceived by means of the senses or by the intellect. Rene Descartes believed that there are two types of qualities, primary and secondary qualities. To Rene Descartes, primary qualities are those that are clearly and distinctly perceived by us (33). These qualities are those that exist due to their geometric integrity and which are related to some extension of a body in space. By this reasoning, Descartes believes these primary qualities are composed of anything that is measurable and can have math applied to them such as motion, shape and size. Descartes believes that primary qualities are not misleading like secondary qualities are. This is because the essence of secondary qualities is not geometric and thus these qualities are perceived obscurely. Nevertheless both of these qualities produce ideas within us. The difference about the ideas produced by these qualities lie in whether it is clear and distinct or obscure and confused. The reason that these secondary qualities are often misleading and primary qualities are not is because we perceive both of these qualities differently. Descartes states that primary qualities, unlike secondary qualities, are perceived clearly and distinctly. This he beliefs, is due to the fact that our method that we go by perceiving these qualities is different. Primary qualities are perceived through our intellect as opposed to secondary qualities which are perceived through our senses (14). Descartes believes that our understanding comes through our intellect and not our senses, therefore the ideas that we are able to grasp from primary qualities are not by means of our senses but rather by means of our intellect since they are clear and distinct unlike those ideas that come from our senses which are obscure and confused. Both primary and secondary qualities are perceived by the mind immediately and therefore result in the ideas we have (32). Unlike secondary qualities, primary qualities are features of the physical objects that are actually there but we come to understand the ideas produced by primary qualities solely by means o f our intellect. Descartes uses the example of a thousand-sided figure to show how primary qualities produce these clear and distinct ideas compared to the often misleading ideas of secondary qualities (sixth meditation). He states that the imagination by means of the senses is able to generate an obscured and confused idea about a thousand sided figure in comparison to the intellect which is able to perceive it clearly no matter how many sides the figure has. These ideas, which are a product of primary qualities are related to extension and are therefore perceived by our intellect using our understanding (sixth meditation). Descartes theory on primary qualities has some similarity to John Lockeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s but differs on how it is that these ideas come to be about within us. John Lockeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s point of view regarding primary and secondary qualities is similar to some extent to Descartesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ theory of primary and secondary qualities. To Locke, primary qualities are spatiotemporal and quantitative. Therefore like Descartes, primary qualities are composed of size and shape, something which is measurable (135). Like Descartes, Locke believes that these qualities have the effect of producing the ideas that we have within us. An idea to Locke is the thought or understanding which is produced by the object. He calls the power that an object has to produce such ideas within us, qualities. Locke states that ideas are existent in our minds. To Locke these qualities are properties belonging to the objects and are the cause of the ideas that we house in our minds (134). The difference between primary qualities and secondary qualities to Locke is the kinds of ideas that these are able to produce in our minds. Locke believes that the ideas pro duced by primary qualities are a resemblance of these qualities. Locke believes that these qualities are actually existent in the objects themselves. On the other hand, those of secondary qualities hold no resemblance to them (136). Unlike Descartes, John Locke has a different theory by which we acquire these ideas. Unlike Descartes, John Locke believes that we acquire our ideas through the perception of the senses. According to Locke, reasoning is an exception to his perspective on innate ideas. He believes that all of our ideas are acquired through our experiences and by means of our senses. Locke states how our mind is similar to that of a blank state, and it is only by experiences that we are able to perceive by means of our senses that we acquire the ideas we possess. Qualities are the powers that objects have and it is within these powers that ideas are produced by them within us. Primary qualities are inseparable from the object, and thus the power of primary qualities produces ideas that resemble the object. This is shown by the example he gives of when something is divided even into its smallest of parts, even when these are too small for us to perceive, the primary qualities are still existent in the object (138). Although Descartes and Locke description of what primary qualities are is similar, their belief in how it is that we come to reason or reflect on these qualities is different. Descartes believes that we canà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t rely entirely on our senses, since they often deceive us. He believes that those ideas obtained from primary qualities are distinct and clear. Therefore he believes that the ideas produced by primary qualities are grasped by means of the intellect. Locke unlike Descartes believes that the ideas we acquire through our life is by experience and it is by the senses that we come to have such experiences. Therefore to Locke, the ideas produced by the power of primary qualities are grasped by means of the senses. To Locke and Descartes, primary qualities are the causal effect which produces the clear ideas that we have, the main difference between their theories is whether we obtain these through our senses and by reflecting or solely by the intellect.

Are you hooked

It was like an addiction to me, because without any reason spend most of my time searching unnecessary things. Finally I decided to overcome from it and stop using unnecessary searching and Stop wasting my time. Right now I am not hooked with anything. Stress sounds simple but it is a hard thing to deal. Every people faces different types of stress. In my life I also faced lots of stress. But I had three most stressful moments in my life. When was ill I dressed that maybe had a big health problem and was very scared of that.All the time was searching online my symptoms and was hooked that time badly. After that when I was pregnant with my second child I was stressed because my first child was only one and half years old that time. Was thinking how can handle my both kids, because had no one here to help me and was stressed that time. I had sleep problem one time. When went to bed all the time I thought couldn't sleep at night and was feeling so stressed . For my that thought most of the night I couldn't sleep.My methods for coping with stress was to change my habits and thoughts. When saw my stress was becoming my distress I just started thinking positively. After some period I had over come from my stresses. Situation that one person sees positively, may another person sees negatively. Stress is simply a body response. Some people takes is easily and some are not. If our stress can notes like positive then it will bring excitement, joy and thrill in our lives.

Short and Quick Activities for the ESL Classroom

All teachers are probably familiar with this situation: Its five minutes before your next class is going to begin and you really dont know what to do. Or maybe this situation is familiar; youve finished your lesson and there are still ten minutes left to go. These short, helpful activities can be used in those situations when you could use a good idea to help get the class started, or fill those inevitable gaps. 3 Favorite Short Classroom Activities My Friend...? I like to draw a picture of a man or a woman on the board. This usually gets a few laughs as my drawing skills leave quite a lot to be desired. Anyway, the point of this exercise is that you ask students questions about this mystery person. Begin with: What is his / her name? and go from there. The only rule that applies is that students have to pay attention to what other students say so that they can give reasonable answers based on what other students have said. This is a great little exercise to review tenses. The crazier the story becomes the better, and more communicative, the activity is for the students. Short Topic Writing The idea of this exercise is to get students to quickly write about a topic they choose (or you assign). These short presentations are then used in two manners; to generate spontaneous conversations on a wide range of topics, and to take a look at some common writing problems. Use the following subjects and ask students to write a paragraph or two about a subject they choose, give them about five to ten minutes to write: The best thing to happen to me todayThe worst thing to happen to me todaySomething funny that happened to me this weekWhat I really hate!What I really like!My favorite thingA surprise I hadA landscapeA buildingA monumentA museumA memory from childhoodMy best friendMy boss Music Description Choose a short piece or excerpt of music you like (I prefer something by the French composers Ravel or Debussy) and tell the students to relax and listen to the music. Tell them to let their imaginations run free. After you have listened to the piece twice, ask them to describe what they were thinking about or what they imagined while they were listening to the music. Ask them why they had those particular thoughts.