Rene Descartes Meditations on First Philosophy
Descartes uses the argument of dreams and the evil deceiver to challenge an individual’s ability to know. He does this by suggesting dreams are the same as reality. If something is true in reality it must be true in dreams. When it comes to truth the same is true in dreams as in reality. Truth cannot be divided. Truth cannot be torn apart. Next time you dream, if you remember the dream, try your best to rip it apart. Did you see a square object in your dream? Well, if you saw a square object ask yourself if it had four sides. If a square has four sides, guess what friend, that’s truth and cannot be torn apart.
The evil deceiver can only deceive me by going outside of myself. I am the only thing that cannot be deceived. The evil deceiver can never fool me. I do not believe my senses. My senses can be used as deception against me. It’s a good idea to never put trust in someone who fools you. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Though my senses can be used against me, I know I am sitting here at my computer typing the words for this Philosophy paper. These hands are mine that are doing the typing.
Sometimes I can have a dream where I am about to be late for an Army formation. My heart is beating and I am terrified. Then I wake up and realize it was just a dream. The dream deceived me with the use of my senses. Man, you just can’t trust those senses.
Take my parents as an example. How do I know they are my parents? I have no proof (other than a document which could be false) they are my real parents. The evil deceiver could have fooled me this whole time. My parents could be just an idea. I can put the idea on or I can take the idea off like a shirt. I can freely choose what to believe. Heck, I can even change my name if I want to. My name is just an idea. The evil deceiver could have given me the name Cedric to make me think like a Cedric would think. You know what, from now on my name is Genesis. Because, according to Descartes, I can become a new beginning starting today.
To establish the necessity of the “thinking I”, Descartes uses doubt arguments. There are many opinions I held as true from my youth. I grew up with a lot of false assumptions. It isn’t until I examine those assumptions from foundations that I can discover what is true and what is false. Doubt can always be possible. My only recourse against doubt is being grounded in the fact that I am thinking. I think, therefore I am. Nothing and no one can ever take that away from me. As long as I am thinking I exist. The moment I cease all thinking I no longer exist. As long as I have free will I am existing.
Anything that is complex is doubtful. I can think and I can make things simple. If something is not simple it is doubtful and can be torn apart. Can I doubt that I can think? Just the very fact that I think, therefore I am abolishing all doubt that I exist. Once something is simplified there is no more doubt.
Descartes’s overall argument provides sufficient basis for science. I believe Descartes’ view of science is a positive development for humanity. Descartes is very objective. He is very factual. So factual in fact he is willing to discount everything as false. He starts from the very foundation building up with truth. Everything is tested for validity.
Solid and deep-rooted foundations are established through Descartes. He has a marvelous analysis of testing for simplicity. Taking away, removing and completely dividing up thoughts provides detailed methods for assessing ideas for unity and certainty.
Descartes lays the foundation that anything that is not a thinking thing does not exist. There is no need to feel sad for something that is an object. Objects do not think. Objects do not have free will and can be used for science and further humanity.
Do dogs have free will? Are they real? If dogs do not have free will … they, in fact, do not exist. They are merely objects that we can use for experiments to further humanity. An interesting example Descartes uses is the wax example. You can hit it with your knuckle and it makes a sound. If you smell it you may notice a fragrance. You may even notice the color of the candle. The interesting thing is these are all your senses being used to believe what you are experiencing is real. But if the candle cannot think it is not real at all. Your imagination is playing tricks on you. This gives humans the absolute advantage to use objects, which includes animals, to further humanity.