ing so he must exist. However he soon refuted that belief because the machine/force could be making him think he was thinking when in fact he wasnt thinking at all. Then Descartes realized that in fact by doubting his existence he was thinking, because doubting is a form of thinking. Now even if he doubted the fact that he was doubting he would be doubting and in turn be thinking. Therefore, Descartes concluded that I think, therefore I am. This idea became the foundation of his new philosophy. He realized that this idea could not be doubted or refuted and is always true.The old house of philosophy was more or less bunches of information thrown together in any place so that it formed an incomplete pile of rubble. Descartes dreamed of forming a new house of philosophy. It would consist of blocks of knowledge placed in all the correct places built on a strong and indubitable foundation. His new idea of I think, therefore I am would serve as this strong indubitable foundation. It was necessary for this new foundation to be unquestionable because all the other ideas in his philosophy would stem back to this one. If it was questionable, then all the theorems and principles that stemmed back to this original foundation could be questioned. This would ruin Descartes plan to develop a new philosophy of truths. Descartes was looking for a new foundation for the sciences. Aristotle had three different models for the sciences. One was for the science of physics; one was for medicine, and one for morals. The common model was of three trees. The roots represented the principles of the particular science and the tree itself represented the ideas of the particular science. Aristotle believed that all principles and/or knowledge come from experiences. Descartes model of the sciences consisted of one huge tree with demonstrable knowledge. He was looking to boil all the sciences down to a first principle. Contrary to Aristotles bel...
