Descartes

             "I think, therefore I am" (32) is the principle in which Descartes uses to build any foundation for the ideas in his meditations. The human being is in essence a thinking thing in which the mind has the ability to deceive a person. He may in his youth have taken many seemingly true opinions and built foundations on them; however, he now comprehends that they may be false. He states that "I should withhold my assent no less carefully from opinions that are not completely certain and indubitable than I would from those that are patently false" (18). The uncertainty is brought in with the decision of what is reality and what has been falsely put into everyone's mind. Because Descartes is unable to show what is true and false in everything, he will take each matter with the same accord and discredit them in the same fashion. He will "attack straightaway those principles which supported everything I once believed" (18). Descartes will attempt to show fault in believing the senses, dreams, and mathematics to be able to understand what concepts of reality are built on a solid base. "I will remain resolute and steadfast in this meditation, and even if it is not within my power to know anything true, it certainly is within my power to take care resolutely to withhold my assent to what is false..." (23).
             Descartes believes that everything he has come to know has been through the senses. He is, however, unwilling to trust them knowing the senses can easily deceive the observer. The core concept is that of appearance verses reality. The point of view of the observer is relative to that of the observer. He cannot deny his location and appearance while he is writing this meditation. "But on what grounds could one deny that these hands and this entire body are mine?" (19) He does not question that he is there, but he questions whether his appearance is actually reality. What he b...

More Essays:

APA     MLA     Chicago
Descartes. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 11:24, March 29, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/15.html