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The External World: The “Brain in a Vat” Argument and Descartes’ “Evil Demon”

Essay Instructions:

Please write a minimum 200-word response to the prompt below:



Prompt: Is there any way to refute skeptical arguments like the brain in a vat (BIV) argument (i.e. that while it seems to us that we are walking around in the world normally, that in reality, we are just brains in vats, connected to a vast computer inputting all our experiences)?



How can we know that the external world really is as it seems to be to us through the senses?

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The External World: The “Brain in a Vat” Argument and Descartes’ “Evil Demon”
Rationalism and empiricism schools of thought differ in the manner that we interpret reality and understand the process of knowledge acquisition. While rationalism prioritizes knowledge gained through deductive logic and reasoning, empiricism acknowledges knowledge that is acquired through senses. The latter argument led Descartes into the world of skepticism and believed that since the knowledge gained from our senses is subject to doubt, then the existence of the external world is an illusion controlled by an “Evil Demon”. Advances in scientific knowledge seem to concur with Descartes with a solid understanding of how our brains work through senses channeled through the sensory organs such as eyes, ears, skin, and tongue. “Brain in a Vat” (...
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