Aquinas and Descartes

The essay has a maximum length of 1200 words (excluding bonus answer`).

Topic: Aquinas and Descartes disagree about whether our knowledge of bodies is innate.

1. In Question 84, Article 3, Aquinas claims that soul does not understand all things through innate ideas.

a. Why does Aquinas deny that we have innate ideas? Answer using the two arguments discussed in class.

b. Which premises and inferences in Aquinas’s argument would Descartes disagree with? Explain why

2. In Mediation 2, Descartes claims that we only know what bodies are through innate ideas using the piece of wax though experiment.

a. How does Descartes argue for this claim?

b. Which premises and inferences in Descartes’s argument would Aquinas disagree with? Explain why.

3. Bonus Question (worth up to three points): Do you agree with Descartes or Aquinas? Come up with an argument to defend your choice.