Essay on descartes - 1223 Words

Descartes ignored all he believed to be true. He believed that if any belief can be doubted it is not certain, making it unusable as a foundation. Descartes jettisons any information, knowledge, or truths that are based on his senses. He applied the â€Å"Dream Argument,† (19) where he stated that based on the senses alone, there is no definite way of proving that you are dreaming or awake. Therefore, any truths based upon the senses are unreliable and doubtful. Descartes turned to why and how his senses were deceivable. Descartes spent Meditation One attempting to disprove his fundamental beliefs. First, Descartes doubts that he is able to trust his senses because they are occasionally wrong. An example of this is a longed haired person that†¦show more content†¦Descartes disproved these beliefs by abandoning the idea of a supremely good God. He had believed in god all his life. He brought up the argument of a different kind of God. This God’s sole purpose was to deceive Descartes. Descartes argument for the existence of God is then: if God is all perfection, existence is perfection. Therefore, God exists. Despite his many efforts to remove all imprecise information from his thoughts, Descartes proves that God has some shortcomings, which have been pointed out over time. One problem was his idea of God. In order to see where the inconsistency lies, we must refer to his understanding of certainty and ideas, mainly methodic doubt. Ideas are concepts that resemble things outside of ones self. Using Descartes’ own logic one can see that these ideas can be doubted. Why was God not doubted? Descartes formed an idea of God as an infinitely good being. He had to discover this idea within his own mind. According to his principle of universal doubt, he cannot simply know whether his conception of God is correct or incorrect. In other words, this idea was considered false until proven otherwise. Since, the idea of God is in doubt, the trustworthiness of one’s reasoning must also be in doubt. Another problem with his proof was that he used his powers of reason without first proving that they were beyond doubt. Gods infinite perfection was made certain to Descartes through the very sameShow MoreRelatedDescartes Vs. Descartes Philosophy1142 Words   |  5 Pages Rene Descartes’ begins to illustrate his skeptical argument as presented in Meditation l. Descartes basic strategy to approaching this method of doubt is to defeat skepticism. This argument begins by doubting the truth of everything, from evidence of the senses to the fundamental process of reasoning. Therefore, if there is any truth in the world that overcomes the skeptical challenge then it must be indubitably true. Thus, creating a perfect foundation for knowledge. The first Meditation is anRead MoreHitchcock/Descartes924 Words   |  4 PagesHitchcock/Descartes Am I really awake typing a paper for philosophy? Did I just watch the Hitchcock film Shadow of a Doubt or did the â€Å"not so supremely good God† plant a reel of thoughts in my head (Descartes16)? That would be ironic since the themes of the film are based upon human understanding of doubt, dreams, good, evil, ignorance and knowledge. The film portrays a neat staircase that leads into the house of an all American family and a rickety set of stairs off the side of the house thatRead MoreAnalysis Of Rene Descartes s The Descartes 2020 Words   |  9 PagesRene Descartes was a French mathematician who concurred with Plato and the early scholars about the significance of reason. Nonetheless, he found that his antecedents regularly settled their thoughts upon what he took to be a to some degree temperamental and dubious establishment. In this way, he starts his own venture by perceiving that all that he supposes he knows could be the consequence of sense involvement, which can mislead us, as when we think the street is wet when it is just a trap of lightRead MoreDescartes Epistemology1696 Words   |  7 PagesEpistemology ------------------------------------------------- Carefully explain Descartes’ cogito and his attempt to build his knowledge structure from the ground up. (Be as succinct as possible.) Does Descartes succeed or fail in that attempt? Justify your answer in full. Descartes’ Epistemology This essay attempts to explain Descartes’ epistemology of his knowledge, his â€Å"Cogito, Ergo Sum† concept (found in the Meditations), and why he used it [the cogito concept] as a foundation when buildingRead More Descartes Essay1269 Words   |  6 Pages In the early 17th century a philosopher named Descartes, questioned his existence. His life was dedicated to the founding of a philosophical and mathematical system in which all sciences were logical. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Descartes was born in 1596 in Touraine, France. His education consisted of attendance to a Jesuit school of La Fleche. He studied a liberal arts program that emphasized philosophy, the humanities, science, and math. He then went on to the University of Poitiers whereRead MoreEssay on Descartes1128 Words   |  5 Pages Rene Descartes was one of the most influential thinkers in the history of the philosophy. Born in 1596, he lived to become a great mathematician, scientist, and philosopher. In fact, he became one of the central intellectual figures of the sixteen hundreds. He is believed by some to be the father of modern philosophy, although he was hampered by living in a time when other prominent scientists, such as Galileo, were persecuted for their discoveries and beliefs. Although this probably had an impactRead MoreDescartes vs. Locke1175 Words   |  5 PagesPhilosophy Essay (Descartes vs. Locke) Socrates once said, â€Å"As for me, all I know is that I know nothing.† Several philosophers contradicted Socrates’ outlook and believed that true knowledge was in fact attainable. This epistemological view however had several stances to it, as philosophers held different beliefs in regards to the derivation of true knowledge. Rationalists believed that the mind was the source of true knowledge, while in Empiricism, true knowledge derived from the senses. ReneRead MoreEssay on Renà © Descartes759 Words   |  4 PagesRenà © Descartes Renà © Descartes was a French philosopher and also mathematician. His method of doubt led him to the famous cogito ergo sum when translated means I am thinking, therefore I exist. This cogito was the foundation for Descartes quest for certain knowledge. He explored doubt and how we can prove our own existence, by taking the first steps of scepticism. His book Meditations On First Philosophy, was written in six parts. EachRead MoreObjections to Descartes’ Interactionism1431 Words   |  6 Pages In the following essay I will be offering some objections to Descartes’ interactionism as is primarily represented in his works The Passions of the Soul, Part I and Correspondence with Princess Elisabeth, Concerning the Union of Mind and Body. I will start by describing the basic features of how Descartes’ notion of interactionism works. Namely, that the pineal gland is the â€Å"principle seat† of the mind because it is the only singular part of the brain. The pineal gland also has a range ofRead More Rene Descartes Essay1094 Words   |  5 PagesRene Descartes was a famous French mathematician, scientist and philosopher. He was arguably the first major philosopher in the modern era to make a serious effort to defeat skepticism. His views about knowledge and certainty, as well as his views about the relationship between mind and body have been very influential over the last three centuries. Descartes was born at La Haye (now called Descartes), and educated at the Jesuit College of La Flà ¨che between 1606 and 1614. Descartes later claimed