Who Is Descartes Argument Of The Existence Of Demons?

We all have our inner demons. Everyone has experienced moments when their feelings, emotions, and those voices inside their heads bring out their dark side. The word demon has a metaphorical meaning, however, the myth of demons (or spirits) is probably the earliest myth of all. According to Langton, primitive people believed in primitive animism, which ‘pre-supposes the existence of a multitude of spirits whose character is not clearly defined.’ Some of these spirits were harmful, which provoked fear from humans. ‘Hence arises the element of fear which is such a prominent characteristic of primitive religion’ (1). There exists a wide variety of demons in demonology but that’s not the main focus of this paper. Religion, being an important part

Leaving aside Descartes’ skepticism of the existence of everything, Frankfurt argues that Descartes’ ‘metaphysical doubt concerns simply the possibility that the demon victimizes us by making us think we remember clearly and distinctly perceiving what we in fact never clearly and distinctly perceived at all’ (217). Human beings rely on their senses to perceive the things around them. Through some complex processes that occur in the human’s mind, that we like to call thinking, humans are able to identify and make connections for themselves, for what is out there and what isn’t. Discussing Descartes’ works, Frankfurt acknowledges that Descartes’ thought might not be his only fundamental characteristic, ‘even though he perceives clearly and distinctly that it is, because he is not yet altogether convinced that what is clearly and distinctly perceived is true’ (161). Furthermore, Frankfurt adds that Descartes ‘does perceive clearly and distinctly that thought is his essence’, but he restricts the assertion because ‘he still fears the demon’ (161). Humans do rely on their senses to perceive and orientate but the senses can sometimes be deceitful just like the evil demon. What seems to be A to me, might seem to be B to someone else, as everything in the universe is relative. However, before we try to comprehend the external world around us, we must firstly understand ourselves and our inner “demons”. On the First Meditation, Descartes states that “it is principally a question of an existing thing – that is, whether it exists” (qtd. in Frankfurt 48). But do we actually exist? Frankfurt gives a passage from Descartes Frankfurt works to achieve a ‘clearer and more distinct perception of his own