Rene Descartes Second Meditations On First Philosophy
Meditations on First Philosophy written by French philosopher Rene Descartes breaks down the Aristotelian notion that all knowledge comes from the senses and develops a new concept of mind, matter, and ideas through a process of methodological doubt and withdrawal. Notably, he is able to disregard all his pre-conceptions and rebuild his knowledge from the ground up. Specifically, in the Second Meditation Descartes ponders on what he knows to be certain and concludes that he cannot deny the fact that he exists. Through a series of questions, deliberations and assertions Descartes is able to successfully declare with certainty that he thinks and therefore exists. Moreover, he realizes that in order to doubt or think there must be a person