The Evil Demon Argument

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Presentation transcript:

The Evil Demon Argument Skepticism The Evil Demon Argument

The Evil Demon I will suppose, then, not that Deity, who is sovereignly good and the fountain of truth, but that some malignant demon, who is at once exceedingly potent and deceitful, has employed all his artifice to deceive me; I will suppose that the sky, the air, the earth, colors, figures, sounds, and all external things, are nothing better than the illusions of dreams, by means of which this being has laid snares for my credulity…

The Evil Demon …I will consider myself as without hands, eyes, flesh, blood, or any of the senses, and as falsely believing that I am possessed of these; I will continue resolutely fixed in this belief, and if indeed by this means it be not in my power to arrive at the knowledge of truth, I shall at least... guard with settled purpose against giving my assent to what is false, and being imposed upon by this deceiver, whatever be his power and artifice. -Descartes, Meditations

The Dreaming Argument I can’t rule out the possibility that I’m dreaming. If (1), then I can’t know anything about the external world. [So] I can’t know anything about the external world.

The Evil Demon Argument I can’t rule out the possibility that I’m being deceived by an evil demon. If (1), then I can’t know anything about the external world. [So] I can’t know anything about the external world.

The Evil Demon Argument I can’t rule out the possibility that I’m being deceived by an evil demon. The Evidence Thesis: Our evidence for the external world is exactly the same as our evidence for the Evil Demon. If (1), then I can’t know anything about the external world. The Knowledge Thesis: In order to know that something is the case, you first have to rule out all the alternatives.

The Evil Demon Argument I can’t rule out the possibility that I’m being deceived by an evil demon. If (1), then I can’t know anything about the external world. [So] I can’t know anything about the external world.

Cogito ergo sum I had the persuasion that there was absolutely nothing in the world, that there was no sky and no earth, neither minds nor bodies; was I not, therefore, at the same time, persuaded that I did not exist? Far from it; I assuredly existed, since I was persuaded…

Cogito ergo sum …but there is I know not what being, who is possessed at once of the highest power and the deepest cunning, who is constantly employing all his ingenuity in deceiving me. Doubtless, then, I exist, since I am deceived; and, let him deceive me as he may, he can never bring it about that I am nothing, so long as I shall be conscious that I am something. -Descartes, Meditations