Rene Descartes Skepticism Research Paper

To be a skeptic is to have “an attitude of doubt or a disposition to incredulity either in general or toward a particular object” (“Skepticism”). Skepticism is a strong theme throughout the philosophical works of both René Descartes and David Hume. In Descartes’s Discourse on Method, he begins his pursuit of knowledge by discarding all his previously accepted truths and thinking all concepts through for himself. In An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Hume is also in the pursuit of knowledge like Descartes, but Hume’s thinking begins from his current knowledge, building upon what he already knows. Both of these men are skeptical towards the world around them, which is a founding reason they are pursuing their philosophies; to understand the world around them. Descartes is the greater skeptic of the two philosophers because he bases his pursuit of knowledge solely on his own

Hume accepts the information that he acquires from his senses as useful, albeit not fully dependable at first glance: “the senses alone are not implicitly to be depended on; but that we must correct their evidence by reason” (Hume 104). Hume’s theories spring from his observations of the world around him, he uses inductive reasoning to achieve his search for understanding. Since inductive reasoning is based on general observations, to use this method, Hume must be able to accept what he witnesses through his senses. His reasoning interacts with the information he takes in through his senses. He demonstrates this through his billiard-ball example, saying that “in vain, therefore, should we pretend to determine any single event, or infer cause and effect, without the assistance of observation and experience” (Hume 19). Hume’s use of inductive reasoning shows that he is less skeptical because he must rely on observations and his senses for his theories, unlike