Descartes
Descartes' 'Cogito Ergo Sum' (I am, I exist) argument is a complex one. In many ways, he constructs a convincing argument for the existence of the self, and for the process of the thinking being, the essence of that self. In this meditation on his philosophy, Descartes on numerous attempts tries to convince both the readers, as well as himself, of his theory that we must reject all of our present ideas and beliefs and start from nothing. He believes that the only thing that has any certainty at this point is "his own existence as a thinking being". Everything else, which he has learned throughout his entire life and believed in, is to be thrown out because it is not known "clearly and distinctly". Descartes' method and theory on knowledge was well planned and carefully thought out. It is evident that he spent a great deal of time determining the principles that he would use as determinants for judging whether a specific idea was justified and true. In my opinion, there are some flaws contained in Descartes' argument. Among these flaws are Descartes' apparent determination to prove his theory on his individual existence in the world and the existence of G-d to backup and prove himself and his theories.
At times, Descartes is unnecessarily critical of many ideas. Descartes clearly states that he perceives it to be quite necessary to question everything in the world around him, and that we should never believe anything we learn from our senses. In his Discourse, Descartes states "I learned not to believe anything to firmly of which I had been persuaded only by example and customs: and thus I little by little freed myself of many errors that can darken our natural light and render us less able to listen to reason. (pg. 15, part 1)." In sternly following his philosophies, Descartes must have missed out on many wonderful things in his lifetime. True as it may be, that our senses can sometimes deceive us, those deceptions can be beautiful and powerful things. The feelings we get when looking at a beautiful sunset, or the colours of the leaves changing in the fall are no less important or meaningful to us just because they may not be completely accurate portrayals of reality. I think they are our reality. If at every instance of life we questioned reality and could not just relax and take in the moment, life may not be worth living because happiness would always be questioned. I happen to feel that many of life's greatest pleasures are in those things that we can perceive only through our senses. Love and religion are perfect examples of things we appreciate by blind faith and trust without the use of reason. To go through life without knowing and experiencing things such as these, would simply be a shame. One would be missing out on a number of worthwhile experiences if they were to question and doubt everything to the point where they could no longer appreciate life's simple pleasures. I would like to think that perhaps there are more important things in life than questioning and denouncing everything that one has been told, simply because it may not be based on the most secure knowledge possible. I suggest that Descartes should have substituted "I feel, therefore I am" for his famous "I think, therefore I am". Conceivably our senses are not the most secure basis for knowledge, but they provide us with many wonderful sensations that I personally would not be prepared to give up, simply for the knowledge that I really exis
Some common words found in the essay are:
Ergo Sum', Discourse Descartes, g-d's existence, existence g-d, own existence, , ergo sum' exist, 'cogito ergo sum', sum' exist, ergo sum', proves theories, existence world, mental capacity, descartes' argument, idea g-d,
Approximate Word count = 1521
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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