"Cartesian Inference"
Abstract: What is an inference? Descartes has a remarkably nuanced answer to this question, but it has been misunderstood. On the standard reading, Descartes thinks an inference is merely a causal process in which perceiving some truths causes you to perceive others. On my reading, perceptions within an inference are not related as causes and effects but rather as parts of a whole. An inference is a completely clear perception within which the parts of an argument are fused into a unified whole. And the truth of the conclusion is illuminated ormade clear to you precisely because you see it as a part of the argument as a whole. A major benefit of this view is that it can be used to solve Lewis Carroll’s famous regress problem for inference, which philosophers still wrestle with today.
Elliot Paul is an Assistant Professor at Queen's University.
