Rene Descartes lived between 1596-1650. He is known as the creator of coordinate geometry, also known as analytical geometry, which is where we get calculus from. He is also known for his works in physics and in astronomy writing both “The World” in 1633 and the “principals of philosophy” in 1644. Descartes was one of the first to put together the idea that we commonly known as the scientific method, he talks about his establishment of it in both “rules or direction of the mind” and “Discourage on the method”. Lastly he is considered the father of modern philosophy.
Beyond the history behind Descartes we go into his first meditation. In this meditation Descartes rejects the idea of tradition being an authority over people’s beliefs. He also recognizes that we are all heavily influenced by our traditions and commonly how we form our own beliefs. In order to separate his beliefs from traditions he takes part in what is known as radical doubt, or shifting through beliefs to find falsehood. The reason Descartes partakes in this act of radical doubt is to see which of his beliefs remain certain, for as we all know no theory is certain until proven. While doing this he comes across the three types of hypothesis: error hypothesis, dreaming hypothesis, and the malicious demon hypothesis. An error hypothesis states that on any occasion our sense might be misleading us. Take into account if you were standing on top of a very tall building. The people down below would look extremely tiny, however in reality they are the same height as you and me. The next hypothesis is the dreaming hypothesis which states that one can have experiences in a dream which are unmistakable for being awake. This hypothesis leads us to the question, given that any waking experience can be had in a dream, how can experience serve as sufficient grounds for belief? This question will later be answered. We can then move on to the last hypothesis which is the malicious demon hypothesis. This hypothesis can be described as using an outside force to control a person’s reason to be wrong. In the time of Descartes these were thought to be legitimate demons causing people to be wrong, however today we more commonly see them as drugs or stimuli of that subject. All three of these hypothesis tend to cast doubt on what was once thought to be a certainty, that is math and logic. For example, a math problem is worked using logic, but if our senses are not reliable than our logic is no longer reliable. Even if our logic does work out the only way it can be checked is to use it once more. With the constant loophole of our logic and reasoning being un reliable it raises the question, how do you make reasoning and senses more reliable? The answer to this question is with more reasoning and observation. However, this brings about an infinite regress problem in which the only way to make our reasoning and logic more reliable is to reason and observe more. Which ultimately is still unreliable. Descartes does come to a final conclusion in which he finds two absolute certainties, of which are “I am currently thinking” and “I exist”. Descartes then moves on to his second meditation, in which he starts out with the two absolute certainties. …show more content…
How can these certainties be justified though? The answer to that is the basis of foundation belief, which is a thought that in itself cannot be doubted, doesn’t require justification, and can provide grounds for justifying everything else we believe. An example of this would be to bring about two different instances. One of which is “I see a pen on the table” and the other is “I seem to see a pen on the table”. When you put the first statement with the second statement it is safe to say that you are having a cup like experience. However, the first statement by itself brings into question whether or not the person seeing the pen is dreaming. The second statement though brings a specific instance to the absolute certainty “I am thinking”. The idea of an object not actual being a whole object but in fact many different object falls hand in hand with the direct object of awareness, which can be reworded to not what the world is made of but instead
Beyond the history behind Descartes we go into his first meditation. In this meditation Descartes rejects the idea of tradition being an authority over people’s beliefs. He also recognizes that we are all heavily influenced by our traditions and commonly how we form our own beliefs. In order to separate his beliefs from traditions he takes part in what is known as radical doubt, or shifting through beliefs to find falsehood. The reason Descartes partakes in this act of radical doubt is to see which of his beliefs remain certain, for as we all know no theory is certain until proven. While doing this he comes across the three types of hypothesis: error hypothesis, dreaming hypothesis, and the malicious demon hypothesis. An error hypothesis states that on any occasion our sense might be misleading us. Take into account if you were standing on top of a very tall building. The people down below would look extremely tiny, however in reality they are the same height as you and me. The next hypothesis is the dreaming hypothesis which states that one can have experiences in a dream which are unmistakable for being awake. This hypothesis leads us to the question, given that any waking experience can be had in a dream, how can experience serve as sufficient grounds for belief? This question will later be answered. We can then move on to the last hypothesis which is the malicious demon hypothesis. This hypothesis can be described as using an outside force to control a person’s reason to be wrong. In the time of Descartes these were thought to be legitimate demons causing people to be wrong, however today we more commonly see them as drugs or stimuli of that subject. All three of these hypothesis tend to cast doubt on what was once thought to be a certainty, that is math and logic. For example, a math problem is worked using logic, but if our senses are not reliable than our logic is no longer reliable. Even if our logic does work out the only way it can be checked is to use it once more. With the constant loophole of our logic and reasoning being un reliable it raises the question, how do you make reasoning and senses more reliable? The answer to this question is with more reasoning and observation. However, this brings about an infinite regress problem in which the only way to make our reasoning and logic more reliable is to reason and observe more. Which ultimately is still unreliable. Descartes does come to a final conclusion in which he finds two absolute certainties, of which are “I am currently thinking” and “I exist”. Descartes then moves on to his second meditation, in which he starts out with the two absolute certainties. …show more content…
How can these certainties be justified though? The answer to that is the basis of foundation belief, which is a thought that in itself cannot be doubted, doesn’t require justification, and can provide grounds for justifying everything else we believe. An example of this would be to bring about two different instances. One of which is “I see a pen on the table” and the other is “I seem to see a pen on the table”. When you put the first statement with the second statement it is safe to say that you are having a cup like experience. However, the first statement by itself brings into question whether or not the person seeing the pen is dreaming. The second statement though brings a specific instance to the absolute certainty “I am thinking”. The idea of an object not actual being a whole object but in fact many different object falls hand in hand with the direct object of awareness, which can be reworded to not what the world is made of but instead