Précis on Descartes's Meditation One It is necessary to question the foundation on which knowledge is built upon in order to derive absolute facts and truths. It would be pain in the neck to examine every opinion individually, since opinions are endless and would take enormous amount of time to address each one. That is when the principle of attacking the foundation comes in the picture. It is far more reasonable to cut the trunk of a tree than to cut each of its branches one by one. If the foundation is firm and established, the knowledge built upon that foundation would be firm and established. However, if the foundation is weak and unstable it will make whatever built upon it to crumble down and shatter away. Now, how do we even begin doubting our beliefs? The most plausible way is to begin doubting our senses, because although senses can aid toward truth these can also sometimes deceive us when it comes to something far away and barely perceptible. For example, seeing mirage when driving on a hot day, or hearing eerie sounds when staying home alone. These senses tell us that something is happening when in fact nothing is. The question is, should we trust in something that has already deceived us once? Think about dreams for another example. When you are dreaming there is no way of knowing whether events are …show more content…
God with naturally good heart is unlikely to create human beings who get deceived all of the times. On the other hand, if some type of evil demon is said to meddle in human lives, it is more likely that what we perceived to be true are not true. It might be possible that we are mistaken about a world existing or that 1+2=3. In this case, we can even question whether we exist or not. It is necessary to have God with good intentions so that foundations can be created and that the world is not just containing everything that is