Critically assess Descartes use and application of the method of doubt (25)

   

The author of Meditation one, Rene Descartes found that he was often mistaken having pre-conceptions with matters which he had once thought were necessarily certain. He looked for certainty using philosophical scepticism. Descartes begins the first meditation by discussing the beliefs which he had accepted as truths, without question, during his childhood. He therefore, decides that in order to gain any firm beliefs that will last, he must start over entirely. Descartes did this by doubting his core beliefs so that he could find certain knowledge which he would hold as foundations upon which he could build his belief system.

The first train of thought that shakes Descartes foundational structure of knowledge is his recognition that he relies on his senses which can deceive him. However he does admit that it is prudent not to trust them as, if we doubt everything our senses tell us we would be like mad men who believes they are dressed when they are actually naked.  Descartes acknowledges that he doesn’t destabilize his beliefs very successfully as it seems that he is sat by the fire holding, a piece of paper and contemplating philosophically. How could his senses be deceiving him about these entire things?  

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Descartes goes on to discover we cannot distinguish between dreaming and ‘real life’ which leads him to doubt his existence in this world, for how do we know that we are not dreaming all the time? This is his second wave of doubt. He then rebukes this idea by pointing out that when we are dreaming we see familiar object, like copies of those which exist in the external world. Therefore we know we cannot be dreaming all the time otherwise where would the duplicated ideas come from? Similarly to when a painter paints an imaginary picture he creates ...

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