lling cookie in my hand -- exists because of my perception of these objects. As a result, according to Descartes, because I may be in a dream state, my senses are creating a false reality, which in turn, causes the skepticism of all sensory beliefs. However, reality exists independent of my perception of an object. For example, if a coin is hidden underneath a book, I may not see the coin. Yet, even though my senses have deceived me, the coin continues to exist. In fact, my perception of reality has nothing to do with reality itself. Consequently, even if I am dreaming and I interpret my dreams as real, the outside reality still continues to exist. However, Descartes, in his dream argument, correlates the uncertainty of perception of reality with the uncertainty of reality itself. Yet even if we are dreaming, reality continues to exist, which in turn, prevents Descartes from destroying all sensory beliefs.In conclusion, Descartes sets off to destroy the very foundation all beliefs rest upon. By doing so, he will have the opportunity to replace this dubitable basis with a more rigid, solid structure, creating no ambiguity in the sciences and mathematics. Yet, instead of individually disproving all beliefs, he tries to bring doubt into two major categories: beliefs derived from the senses and those from understanding. In his dream argument, he introduces that the idea that at the very moment, we may be dreaming; therefore, our senses would then be deceiving us. Furthermore, a malicious demon may be controlling our thoughts, poisoning the rationality of the world. As ridiculous as these two arguments sound, these two successfully bring reasonable doubt in all of our most basic beliefs, providing a means of destroying our belief system. Ultimately, we are only left with the belief that we have the capability to think....
