Descartes Vs Hume

The search for knowledge is something that philosophers have tried to master for all of history. Philosophical thinking when it comes to knowledge and how reliable our senses and perception are when attempting to gain knowledge, has long been based on the idea of whether or not we as humans can see the world and all of its parts in true form with none of our own personal biases clouding our world view. Both Descartes and Humes believe that our senses play a major role in how reliable our sense of reason is. They both mention that through our senses we are able to establish an absolute truth. Although the application of this idea differs in their respective searches for knowledge. Descartes begins his Meditation 1 by affirming his belief in

In doing so he opens his mind to realizations about humanity and how reliable our truth and ability to reason are in our quest for knowledge. He goes on to say that in the areas of math and science for example that, “for whether I am awake or asleep, two and three together always form five, and the square can never have more than four sides, and it does not seem possible that truths so clear and apparent can be suspected of any falsity [or uncertainty]” (Fieser 51). Descartes places faith in humans’ ability to be reliable by way of reason when it comes to topics that involve absolutes such as math and science because we can see and hear the facts. In these areas of study, questions always have a definite answer and he believes that humans are intelligent enough to see that there will always be an answer. He knows that humans can understand and agree that the answer will remain the same for two plus three every time regardless of what they see, hear, smell, taste, or believe in their own right, because they can see that two blocks combining with three blocks equals five block. This idea is tangible as they can physically count

So much so that they can in no way be reliable when it comes to matters of reason if they do not have the experience through one of their own senses. He uses the example that we as humans can be presented with different shades of the same color as a basis for our perception and reason and then be asked to imagine a shade of that color we are not presented with. He goes on to say, “Now I ask, whether ’tis possible for him, from his own imagination, to supply this deficiency, and raise up to himself the idea of that particular shade, though it had never been conveyed to him by his senses? I believe there are few but will be of opinion that he can; and this may serve as a proof, that the simple ideas are not always derived from the correspondent impressions…” (Humes 5). He is saying that without something being conveyed to us through one off the five senses we cannot imagine it and therefore cannot believe it to be true. We rely heavily on our senses when it comes to matters of reason and our quest for knowledge as we can only know for certain what we have felt, seen, smelt, or heard for ourselves. Without our senses and their bases in absolute truth we cannot be considered reliable, as he said, “We cannot form to ourselves a just idea of the taste of a pineapple, without having actually tasted it.” (Humes 3). This relates to his