Method Of Doubt: Rene Descartes Meditations Of Philosophy
Method of Doubt
Rene Descartes (1596-1650), a French philosopher and mathematician, is best known for his Meditations of Philosophy. This form of philosophy is a body of work in which he attempts to wipe away all his presumptions, rebuilding his knowledge from the ground up, and accepting as true only those claims which are absolutely certain. It was essential that the foundations to his beliefs were solid; if any one of them were at all in doubt, he would lose credibility for his entire structure of knowledge. Thus, Descartes created a method in which he would eliminate those beliefs which he could not be entirely certain of. He called this method – the Method of Doubt. By using the Method of Doubt, Descartes questioned everything that …show more content…
He started by questioning existence -Do I exist? Does God exist? He proved his existence by stating that in order to have these doubts, he must exist. The fact that he is able to contemplate his own existence is proof that he exists. This is where he brings in the phrase, “I think, therefore I am”. This is the logical argument for knowing we exist (Descartes 1641, 4-6). He proves that there is a God by using the cosmological argument- “something lesser cannot cause something greater.” Greater/lesser is referring to qualitative differences not quantitative. For example, a monkey is on a different level and is to be held to different standards than a person. Descartes says, “I have an idea of a perfect being- it’s an infinite being who 's omnipresent, omnipotent, all good...God.” Then he thinks, “Since I am finite I cannot be the source of the idea of an infinite being.” He realizes that finite vs. infinite is a qualitative difference between us and God. Through points one and two, he comes to the realization that an infinite being had to have come from a different source, and the only infinite source is a perfect being. He then concluded that God must have put this idea in his head, therefore God must exist (Descartes 1641, …show more content…
Descartes argues that our senses cannot be trusted because sometimes we don’t perceive things correctly; it can be due to mirages, hallucinations, or dreams (Descartes 1641, 1-2). Many times we believe things have actually happened when in reality it was just a mind trick. This brings us to why we can’t trust our imagination. Our imagination comes from our experiences in the real world which stems from our senses, which we have just discovered we cannot trust. Descartes believed that a lack of complete certainty is a good reason to doubt. This was the principle of the Method of Doubt, also known as ‘Radical Skepticism’ (Descartes 1641,
Rene Descartes (1596-1650), a French philosopher and mathematician, is best known for his Meditations of Philosophy. This form of philosophy is a body of work in which he attempts to wipe away all his presumptions, rebuilding his knowledge from the ground up, and accepting as true only those claims which are absolutely certain. It was essential that the foundations to his beliefs were solid; if any one of them were at all in doubt, he would lose credibility for his entire structure of knowledge. Thus, Descartes created a method in which he would eliminate those beliefs which he could not be entirely certain of. He called this method – the Method of Doubt. By using the Method of Doubt, Descartes questioned everything that …show more content…
He started by questioning existence -Do I exist? Does God exist? He proved his existence by stating that in order to have these doubts, he must exist. The fact that he is able to contemplate his own existence is proof that he exists. This is where he brings in the phrase, “I think, therefore I am”. This is the logical argument for knowing we exist (Descartes 1641, 4-6). He proves that there is a God by using the cosmological argument- “something lesser cannot cause something greater.” Greater/lesser is referring to qualitative differences not quantitative. For example, a monkey is on a different level and is to be held to different standards than a person. Descartes says, “I have an idea of a perfect being- it’s an infinite being who 's omnipresent, omnipotent, all good...God.” Then he thinks, “Since I am finite I cannot be the source of the idea of an infinite being.” He realizes that finite vs. infinite is a qualitative difference between us and God. Through points one and two, he comes to the realization that an infinite being had to have come from a different source, and the only infinite source is a perfect being. He then concluded that God must have put this idea in his head, therefore God must exist (Descartes 1641, …show more content…
Descartes argues that our senses cannot be trusted because sometimes we don’t perceive things correctly; it can be due to mirages, hallucinations, or dreams (Descartes 1641, 1-2). Many times we believe things have actually happened when in reality it was just a mind trick. This brings us to why we can’t trust our imagination. Our imagination comes from our experiences in the real world which stems from our senses, which we have just discovered we cannot trust. Descartes believed that a lack of complete certainty is a good reason to doubt. This was the principle of the Method of Doubt, also known as ‘Radical Skepticism’ (Descartes 1641,