Descartes Meditations

A detailed Summary of Descartes Meditations

One reason is simply that the question " what if anything is anything certain" is an interesting one. We live in a world where there are diverse opinions, views, and theories about many matters. Often these views we hold with great confidence, yet what passes for knowledge is continually changing as new scientific discoveries are made, and new theories are devised. Have you ever asked yourself if whether anything is really certain? Or that those who live in uncertainty, take guidance from the prevailing "expert" opinion of the day, which may change tomorrow? Has the thought that nothing is certain crossed your mind?? Rene Descartes, a philosopher and mathematician of the 16th century was dissatisfied with such prospects. I will try to analyze Descartes 1st , 2nd and 6th meditation.

The purpose of mediation I is to determine what propositions if any cannot be doubted. By this doubt then, Descartes does not mean to reject permanently all his former beliefs. Some of them may well be true. But if they are, then Descartes wants to rediscover them, in the sense of showing that they follow logically from basic, indutible propositions, the main purpose , so that Descartes can use them as "foundations" upon which to rebuild his knowle

dge. The doubt is a way of rethinking everything from the beginning, so as to achieve the certainty that he is seeking. Throughout mediations I Descartes doubts, or call into question his old beliefs. In the very first sentence of Meditation I, Descartes declares that he must question his beliefs if " he wanted to establish anything at all in the science that was stable and likely to last"; and near the end, he repeats that he must withhold assent from his previous beliefs " if he wants to discover certainty". The two sentences in the quotations are crucial to Descartes argument because in them Descartes reveals his purpose: to discover what, if anything is certain. It is for the sake of this goal that Descartes resolves to doubt his previous beliefs. After stating this Descartes decleares that " reason now lead me to think that I must hold back my assent from opinions which are not completely certain and indutible just as carefully as I do from those which are patently fase" To say this is to imply that one is reasoning from some premises. Then from what premises is Descartes here reasoning? The answer is obious: from his statement of purpose. For given that his purpose to find absolute certainty , one has an excellent reason not to accept things that are uncertain. Descartes is here reasoning directly from his goal to what he must do in order to attain it. Descartes is not examining all his beliefs individually because it would be an endless task for him to do so. Rather he proposes to examine the basic principles on which his beliefs rest. If these basic principles turn out to be uncertain, then so are any beliefs resting on them. But what are these basic principles are Descartes beliefs based on? It is important to note that Descartes is talking about the beliefs about our present, immediate physical surroundings. According to Descartes " whatever has up ti

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1266
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: People