To determine if our beliefs are justified, we have to be able to trace them back to a statement, belief, or proposition that cannot be doubted. Descartes saw that Mathematics held the only true and believable facts. If achieved, such a proposition could place the firm foundation on which all subsequent beliefs could be grounded; it would guarantee that all subsequent claims based on it would be true.

In his writings, he ultimately hopes to achieve absolute certainty about the nature of everything including God, the physical world, and himself. It is only with clear and distinct knowledge of such things that he can then begin to understand his true reality. In order to acquire absolute certainty, Descartes must first lay a complete foundation on which to build up his knowledge. The technique he uses to lay this base is doubt. If any belief c

Descartes knows he is not just a body based on the doubts of his senses. Despite the fact that he feels he's not a body, he does believe he has properties, such as doubt, that make him a substance. From this he concludes that his is an immaterial substance and that his essential property is self-consciousness because you have no real proof of yourself except through your own thoughts or consciousness. Descartes articulates this belief in the statement, "I think, therefore I am." Furthering this with the belief that the essential property of experiences itself is self-consciousness. Accordingly, he has established the first absolutely certain foundation of truth that he was seeking. Although he cannot yet be sure of the existence of anything external to or outside of his mind, the certainty of his own thoughts cannot be doubted.

I have realized how my beliefs, hopes, fears, biases, and expectations affect my observations and perception of reality. For example, back in my hometown there was this old, dilapidated house that everybody swore was haunted. Every time I would be in the house I would swear of hearing things or seeing things that I perceived as ghosts. I then developed a belief in ghosts that was illogical and uncalled-for. My reality was altered by a presupposition that the house was haunted. When in actuality my mind was playing a trick on me. The beliefs I hold determine what I will perceive of reality.

an be doubted, it is not certain, therefore making unusable as a foundation.

Through Descartes I have gained new ideas about

Some common words found in the essay are:
Evil Genius, Descartes Mathematics, Descartes Meditations, Sample PL, absolute certainty, essential property, believe religion, physical world, doubted descartes, statement belief,
Approximate Word count = 1062
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)