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What Are Descartes Beliefs On Religion

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The main point of this paper is to discuss Meditation One, concerning those things that can be called into doubt. Descartes states that he has put off examining the foundations upon which he has built all his false beliefs.
1. A solid foundation for the sciences requires a truth that is absolutely certain; for this purpose, Descartes rejects all his beliefs for which there is even a possibility of doubt, and whatever truths are left will be absolutely certain.
2. To this end it is not necessary to go through all of Descartes beliefs individually, since they are all based on a more fundamental belief. If there is any reason to doubt this foundation belief, then all the beliefs based on it are equally doubtful.
3. All Descartes beliefs about the world are based on the fundamental belief that the senses tell the truth. But this belief is not absolutely certain. It is at least possible that everything Descartes’ senses tell him is an illusion created by a powerful being. Therefore, there is some reason to doubt Descartes’ foundational belief, and thus all his beliefs about the world are doubtful; none of them can serve as the foundation for science. …show more content…

Though his present sensations may be dream images, he suggests that even dream images are drawn from waking experiences, much like paintings in that sense. Descartes’ argument of dreaming consists of:
1. Descartes often has perceptions very much like the ones he usually has in sensations while dreaming
2. There are no definite signs to distinguish dream experience from waking experience
3. Therefore, it is possible that he is dreaming right now and that all of his perceptions are

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