Meditation IV

E732427

Meditation IV is a section of René Descartes’ *Meditations on First Philosophy* in which he examines the nature of truth and error, laying groundwork for debates such as the Cartesian circle.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
Meditation IV canonical 1

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (44)

Predicate Object
instanceOf philosophical text section
addressesConcept cognitive faculties
divine perfection
error
freedom of the will
judgment
truth
arguesThat God is not a deceiver
suspending judgment can prevent error
the source of error lies in human finite nature
author René Descartes NERFINISHED
centralClaim error arises from the misuse of free will rather than from God
humans err when they assent to judgments beyond what they clearly and distinctly perceive
the will is more extensive than the intellect
discussesFaculty intellect
judgment
understanding
will
genre early modern philosophical prose
hasCommentaryOn clear and distinct perception
hasRoleInWork consolidates the justification of clear and distinct ideas
prepares the way for later meditations on material things
historicalContext 17th-century rationalism
includedIn first edition of Meditations on First Philosophy
influenced debates on the compatibility of divine perfection and human error
early modern epistemology
subsequent discussions of free will
mainTheme nature of truth and error
possibility of human error despite a perfect God
relation between intellect and will
originalLanguage Latin
originalTitle Meditatio Quarta NERFINISHED
partOf Meditations on First Philosophy NERFINISHED
philosophicalMethod first-person reflective meditation
method of doubt
philosophicalTopic epistemology
philosophy of mind
philosophy of religion
philosophicalTradition Cartesianism NERFINISHED
positionInWork fourth meditation
relatedDebate Cartesian circle NERFINISHED
relatedWork Meditation III NERFINISHED
Meditation V NERFINISHED
workDate 1641

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Cartesian circle discussedIn Meditation IV