Abstract
This essay will examine the ideas of philosopher Descartes on the topic of doubt and certainty, taken from his work in The Meditations. It will investigate things that Descartes initially perceived with the least amount of doubt and look at them in further detail to understand how these things may instead be false. By taking a modern-day approach to his understanding from the 17th century, it can be contended to what extent these uncertainties still exist, and if some of them have been eradicated through the transforming knowledge of our societies, bodies, and surroundings. Things that will be discussed are the idea of senses and the degree to which we can trust our sight, hearing etc. This idea of our own realities will then be looked at in terms of dreaming, a topic which Descartes hypostasizes to be highly fallible. Finally, this essay will examine math; the one thing that be believes to be absolutely true, but how even that can be tainted by the workings of a human mind.
Keywords: Descartes, Philosophy, Doubt, Certainty, Knowledge
An analysis of Descartes’ Method of Doubt
It can be debated that the most predominant message within Descartes’ method, is that all pre-notions of certainty have elements of doubt, and all things believed to be factual, can also be viewed as false. This hypothesis of uncertainty appears logical for a philosopher to critically contemplate, especially given that Descartes lived through a time of great environmental and scientific change. By analyzing the different categories that Descartes creates within his method; the certainty of our senses, our dreams, and math, it can be understood in which ways Descartes reached his conclusion that nothing is beyond doubt, even those things he thought of with a sense of certainty and understanding.
Use your promo and get a custom paper on
"An Analysis of Descartes’ Method of Doubt".
Descartes’ Doubt
Beginning with our senses, Descartes puts forward that once something has deceived us, it can never be trusted again, just as with friendships and relationships. Once trust is broken, whatever that thing is, it is impossible to have absolute trust in that thing a second time. Therefore, because our senses sometimes deceive us, it follows that these things are not always true. Perhaps, we believe we have seen something we have not, and our brain tricks us into seeing something not factual but what we want to, then doubt must always be present. As Descartes explains, everything in our whole reality is built up ‘from the senses or through the senses’ (Cottingham 2009: 18), and therefore our entire reality could be some kind of trick we play on ourselves. Descartes then takes this further by discussing these senses within terms of dreaming. It is true to say that when dreaming, it is sometimes impossible to distinguish the dereference between waking; hence why nightmares can be such a horrific thing for people. Consequently, when we distinguish scents or images in our reality, it can be argued that no certainty can be given to what we believe to be awake or asleep.
There was one aspect of life however, in which Descartes kept his belief of absolute truth, and that was Math; ‘Whether I am asleep or awake…two and three added together make five.’ (Cottingham, 2009: 23) This straightforward example demonstrates that Math cannot be subjected to human bias or deception as it is very clearly and simply right or wrong. However, by delving into this thought process deeper, doubts do begin to appear. As Descartes believed in the truth of Math, he would take that certainty forward into his dreams and therefore the belief remains just as strong. However, if this initial belief was incorrect, then the knowledge both within dreaming and waking would be false. Descartes investigates this notion further with the creation of his metaphorical character, the Evil Genius. This extreme hypothesis gives readers of his work a very vivid and emotive concept to understand. Descartes describes a creature full of malice, who is able to deceive and manipulate the entirety of this mind. Thus, what Descartes understands to be correct and irrefutable math, even in the simplest of terms, may just be a constant manipulation of his mind. Although this example is extreme, it does demonstrate that everything we believe may only be the establishment of falsehoods based on concepts of other falsehoods. The only thing that can be without doubt in Descartes mind is that he is an existing being, who is aware, and can therefore ponder all these different questions. His famous quotation, ‘I think therefore I am’ is irrefutable to any logical argument and thus holds no doubt within it.
Conclusions
It can be contended that the growing scientific society would have definitely had an impact on the way Descartes deliberates doubt and certainty. Perhaps this may not have been possible without the challenging of age old ideas, such as the Earth being flat or the Earth being at the center of the solar system. However, I believe that if we apply Descartes’ philosophy to our modern-day age, it is just as valid now as within his own time; potentially even more so as our generation have begun to understand just how quickly thoughts, preconceptions, and ‘scientific truths’ change. I would agree with Descartes in understanding that the only thing beyond doubt is my existence, whether it is within a dream or in my own reality, if I think, then I must exist in some tangible way.
- Cottingham, J (2009). How to Read Descartes. London: Granta. 18-26.
