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DB 4: What is Being Awake?
Be sure to read ahead about Descartes’ Dream Arguments (in Ultimate Questions pp. 52-53) before posting to the discussion board: Descartes claims that we cannot (using typical methods) be certain that we are in fact sitting at the computer at this moment. In fact, he claims we might very well be dreaming that we are at the computer.
Question: What is being “Awake”?
- Provide two fairly reliable ways that we can distinguish between dreaming and being awake. Give reasons or examples from your own life which provide evidence for your view.
- Are these ways always reliable? (i.e., Can we be certain we are not dreaming at this very moment?) Why or why not? As part of question ii., you might consider: If we have dreams that do nothave such indicators in them, what then?
DB 4: What is Being Awake? Answer
Descartes’ dream arguments are some of the most refuted arguments in the world of philosophy. Nonetheless, two of the fairly reliable ways to distinguish between dreaming and being awake are feeling or not feeling certain sensations such as pain and not experiencing the two states simultaneously. First is the so-called pinch test wherein when we are dreaming, we cannot feel the pain.