Aquinas and Descartes Innate Ideas
Aquinas and Descartes Innate Ideas
Comparative Essay 1200words max.Topic: Aquinas and Descartes disagree about whether our knowledge of bodies is innate.In Question 84, Article 3, Aquinas claims that soul does not understand all things through inate ideas.Why does Aquinas deny that we have innate ideas? Answer using:Forms are principles of actionWhenever a form of a thing exists in my intellect it causes me to actually know that thing.I do not always actually know, sometime I only potentially know.Therefore, forms do not always actually exist in my intellect, something they only potentially exist in my intellect.Which premises and inferences in Aquinas’s argument would Descartes disagree with?
Explain whyIn Mediation 2, Descartes claims that we only know what bodies are through inate ideas using the piece of wax though experiment.How does Descartes argue for this claim?Which premises and inferences in Descartes’s argument would Aquinas disagree with? Explain why.Bonus Question (worth up to three points): Do you agree with Descartes or Aquinas? Come up with an argument to defend your choice.