Descartes

Rene Descartes, a French philosopher of the Enlightenment, is renown for his method of doubting the senses and discarding all previously acquired knowledge in order to have a clear mind of what is really true. Descartes believes that the only indubitable thing in life is our existence, his famous statement ‘I think, therefore I am’. Furthermore, Descartes appears to trust the ‘natural light’, in other words, the knowledge that we are naturally provided with, for example the knowledge of a supreme being of perfection. Such a drastic move as this has lead to an ongoing debate amongst both contemporary and modern philosophers, who have chosen to attack Descartes’ notion of innate ideas, claiming that all ideas derive from sensory experience. Many misconceptions have been formed from Descartes’ ‘Discourse on Method and The Meditations’, leading many philosophers to criticise him without fully understanding his method and his reasons for the use of method.

Descartes’ ‘Discourse on Method and The Meditations’ is actually an application of the method itself and his

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Descartes’ method is an extremely reasonable one, however, when put into practise it is more difficult than it seems, as it is such a drastic action to doubt everything one believed up until now. Descartes argues that one cannot, for the senses can often deceive us. In order to justify his first principle Descartes states that he can justify the rejection of all his beliefs if in each he can find some ground for doubt. Descartes introduces the reader to his method through four principles.

Bibliography

Rene Descartes, Discourse on Method and The Meditations, ed. In his heart, Descartes cannot doubt the existence of God, that is why his proof is sufficient for him. Descartes argument regarding the inability to rely on our senses for they deceive us is a very logical and reasonable view. Finally, he suggests making enumerations. Descartes may be right in the existence of God, however, the mere fact that it can be doubted, means that it cannot be taken as a universal truth. Descartes claims that we should free our minds of everything which can be doubted, and instead, begin from the very few truths we do know in order to discover more. In fact the only thing Descartes’ has proven is ‘I think therefore I am’. Furthermore, Descartes only finds two initial truths. Locke claims that the human mind is shaped completely by the environment.

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Approximate Word count = 2029
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)

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