There is a cup of coffee in front of me. In my mind, I have an idea of the cup of coffee. Explain how Descartes would understand the levels of formal reality (and objective reality, if it applies) of ALL of the objects in this situation (i.e. the cup of coffee, the idea of the cup of coffee, and me).
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@L rodriguez What do you mean by formal reality and objective reality?– Jo WehlerCommented Mar 16, 2016 at 6:16
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formal and objective reality are terms from Descartes' Meditations inherited from scholastic philosophy.– virmaiorCommented Mar 16, 2016 at 6:46
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Does this question: philosophy.stackexchange.com/questions/24714/… answer your question as well?– virmaiorCommented Mar 16, 2016 at 6:47
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2Looks like copy-paste homework question.– E...Commented Jun 14, 2016 at 17:55
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1 Answer
I refer to the definitions of the terms “formal reality” and “objective reality” from http://www.trinity.edu/cbrown/modern/descartes-Reality.html
Formal reality of an object depends on the object’s kind, being a mode, a finite substance, or an infinite substance. The degrees are, respectively, low, medium, and high.
Only ideas have objective reality. Its degree of objective reality is the degree of formal reality of the content of the idea.
In your example:
- cup of coffee (formal reality, objective reality) = (medium, n/a)
- the idea of the cup of coffee (low, medium)
- a person (medium, n/a)
@virmaior Thanks for the reference to the terms.
answered Mar 16, 2016 at 7:55
