The Influence Of René Descartes Meditations On First Philosophy

René Descartes, a rationalist philosopher finds uncertainty in almost everything, including his senses, memory, body and the physical world. Eveything besides the fact he himself is a res cogitans (thinking thing). He puts forth this idea in his second meditation of his most famous works, Meditations On First Philosophy, published in 1641. This analytic style of writing opens by considering any belief that was the slightest bit doubtful, as false. Descartes felt the need for this “hyperbolic doubt” in order to reach an impartial truth. He then takes you through the thought process that led him to the one thing that lies beyond all doubt. He finds certainty in the statement Cogito, ergo sum or “I think, therefore I am.” FOOTNOT The first Meditation in Descartes Meditations On First Philosophy, is based on doubting almost everything he once believed as true. When Descartes found that beliefs he had were false, he realized all of his beliefs could be threatened. He embraced scepticism and refused to accept anything that it is possible to doubt. 'I realized that it was necessary, once in the course of my life, to demolish everything completely and start again right from the foundations if I wanted to establish anything at all in the sciences that was stable ' (17). Descartes thought

Senses provide man with many ordinary beliefs and Descartes claimed all if them to be doubtful. He believed the senses to be untrustworthy and incapable of providing us with certainity. 'From time to time I have found that the senses deceive, and it is prudent never to trust completely those who have deceived us even once '. Descartes then states he had dreams that were very similar to walking experiments. He then questions when he is dreaming and when he is not. If he cannot distinguish between his dreams and waking life, all observations and beliefs based on sensation must be doubted.