Descartes, in his Meditations on First Philosophy, used a method of doubt; he doubted everything in order to find something conclusive, which he thought, would be certain knowledge. He found that he could doubt everything, expect that he was thinking, as doubting is a type of thinking. Since thinking requires a thinker, he knew he must exist. According to Descartes if you are able to doubt your existence, then it must mean that you exist, hence his famous statement cogito ergo sum which is translated into ‘I think, therefore I am.’ Descartes said he was able to doubt the existence of his body and all physical things, but he could not doubt that his mind exists.
Furthermore, his method shows that whenever one makes an argument, they have to be completely sure and have not even one reason to doubt it themselves so that they could be assured that they had not left out anything because then it shows impatience and stress. He suggests that when developing thoughts to solve a problem, to develop the thoughts in such an order beginning with the easiest to understand first, then to go little by little to the harder and more complicated thoughts and problems therefore creating a more spaced out, concentrated and organized mind set which makes it easier to solve the problems. He adds that if one person can work hard and use his four steps to achieve knowledge like he did, then everyone can because knowledge is not hidden, it is out in the open to be discovered. Lastly, Descartes conveys to readers that “I think, therefore I am” is a true quote and applies to everyone because everyone is skeptical but no matter what, our bodies don’t matter, just our souls do because even without our bodies, our souls can continue and be all that they
Explain Descartes’ method of doubt. What is Descartes purpose in exercising this method? Descartes begins Meditation I by stating that in order for him to establish anything in the sciences that was constant, he would have to start from the foundations of all knowledge. By claiming this, he is adopting skepticism which is not him rejecting his beliefs, but doubting them.
Descartes then attempts to define what he is. He previously believed that he had a spirit and body, by methods for which he was fed, moved, could sense, absorb space, had a distinct area and think. Each one of those methods are thrown into uncertainty except thinking. Since he can think, he should exist. He thinks about whether he no longer exists once his reasoning comes to a halt.
His argument is one that requires multiple glances and a decomposition to its base components. It components being that we exist, we think clear and distinct thoughts that we affirm to be true even though other thoughts must be doubted, there must be a greater force that is responsible for these clear and distinct thoughts, and this greater force is an infinite, perfect, all-powerful God. While Descartes built a strong case about the existence of God, it is not completely perfect. There are still more questions that can be asked about his reasoning and certain holes in Descartes’ prior and succeeding meditations that raise the question of “How concrete and rigid is Descartes’ reasoning throughout his
We see many philosophers base their beliefs on something specific however Descartes philosophy comes from extreme scepticism also known as nihilism. He begins his philosophy by having disbelief in the true existence of anything at all. Descartes main aim was to attain certainty. He had a desire to be certain about the things that truly exist and those that do not. He believed that once he could be truly certain of one thing that he could re-build the world from there for the better.
The next step that Descartes uses in the second meditation is the existence of this Godly figure. He questions his own beliefs with that of the God, and argues that a mind should be capable of thinking for them to be of existence, “Is there not some God, or some other being by whatever name we call it, which puts these reflections into my mind? That is not necessary, for is it not possible that I am capable of producing them myself?” He then puts forward that for one to be deceived by this “evil demon” as he describes it, they have to exist to be deceived.
Notre Dame ID: 902008117 In René Descartes ' Mediations on First Philosophy, Descartes abandons all previous notions or things that he holds to be true and attempts to reason through his beliefs to find the things that he can truly know without a doubt. In his first two meditations Descartes comes to the conclusion that all that he can truly know is that he exists, and that he is a thinking being. In his third meditation, Descartes concludes that he came to know his existence, and the fact that he is a thinking being, from his clear and distinct perception of these two facts. Descartes then argues that if his clear and distinct perception would turn out to be false, then his clear and distinct perception that he was a thinking being would not have been enough to make him certain of it (Blanchette).
We know clear and distinct perceptions independently by God, and his existence provides us with a certainty we might not possess otherwise. However, another possible strategy would be to change Gods role in Descartes philosophy. Instead of seeing God as the validation of clear and distinct perceptions, rather see him as a safeguard against doubt. This strategy, however, is a problem since it re-constructs the Meditations – Philosophical work of Descartes –.This is because it would not be God, who is the ultimate foundation of knowledge, but the clear and distinct
Descartes has made a very interesting argument for the Mind Body Dualism theory. His theory brings the existence of God, the way our minds are the only thing that we can truly know, and the existence of innate ideas. Throughout the Meditations Descartes continues to question his own understanding of whatever consciousness really means and how the mind and body are two distinct concepts. Descartes states that he can only be sure of one thing in his existence. He can be sure that he is a thinking entity.
• The problem as he saw it was the sterility and conflict of scholastic (church) philosophy, which was incapable of fending off skepticism. • He set himself the task of providing an indubitable foundation for human knowledge. • The foundation he found: Cogito, ergo sum. 3. Discourse on Method • Descartes begins by recounting the course of his Meditations, the purpose of which is to identify an indubitable foundation for knowledge (a realm of absolute truth).
Descartes Methodological Doubt and Meditations Methodological doubt is an approach in philosophy that employs distrust and doubt to all the truths and beliefs of an individual to determine what beliefs he or she is certain are true. It was popularized by Rene Descartes who made it a characteristic method of philosophy where a philosopher subjects all the knowledge they have with the sole purpose of scrutinizing and differentiating the true claims from the false claims. Methodological doubt establishes certainty by analytically and tentatively doubting all the knowledge that one knows to set aside dubitable knowledge from the indubitable knowledge that an individual possesses. According to Descartes, who was a rationalist, his first meditation
Throughout Descartes Discourse and Meditations, he tears down the foundations of his knowledge and doubts all things that are not grounded on definite knowledge. His questioning leads him to discredit everything, as he cannot find anything that can’t be doubted. However, once he had doubted everything he searched for something indisputable. He realises to doubt is to think, and to think is to exist, so they first indisputable rule he comes to is ‘I think, therefore I am’.
It is precisely in Meditation I that Descartes begins to outline his anthropology by starting from the beginning, ridding himself of all his preconceived notions, and distancing himself from the three faculties (reason, imagination, and sensation) through which we apprehend the world in order to ultimately achieve true and certain knowledge. Through the faculty of reason, Descartes with his universal doubt deduces that we cannot be certain of any of the three faculties that are necessary for how humans perceive and interact with the world. As a result, Descartes come to the only definitive conclusion that he can make, that in order to doubt or think, there must be someone doing the doubting or thinking and therefore, he, Descartes must exist. A corollary of this revelation is that for Descartes, the only thing distinguishes humans are their minds; in other words, the thing that makes humans human are their minds, an absolutely immaterial object. For Descartes, humans are a combination of substances, an accidental unification between the vital thinking mind, the true essence of a person, and the body, a mere machine-like extension of the mind.
In the second meditation, Descartes said, " I am therefore, precisely speaking, only a thinking thing, that is, a mind (mens sive animus), understanding, or reason, terms whose signification was before unknown to me. I am, however, a real thing, and really existent; but what thing? The answer was, a thinking thing." He understood that the only way he could believe he existed was by continuing to ask questions, thinking, and try to understand his rationality. He tested his new foundation by doing experiments.
