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Ms René Descartes René Descartes was a French philosopher and also mathematician. His method of doubt led him to the famous “cogito ergo sum” when translated means “I am thinking, therefore I exist”. This cogito was the foundation for Descartes’ quest for certain knowledge. He explored doubt and how we can prove our own existence, by taking the first steps of scepticism. His book “Meditations On First Philosophy”, was written in six parts. Each representing the six days that God took to create the world. Not to upset the Church, Descartes would need to prove the existence of God, and the soul. Within Descartes’ argument, we find some important areas. Two, which require focus, are his perception of “clear and distinct ideas” and the example he gives about the wax. Descartes began on his path towards the cogito, by using the sceptical view of argument. He doubts everything. Descartes himself was not a sceptic, but saw doubt as the first step; to clear the board and start afresh. Even though he seems to be able to doubt most things, he cannot doubt that he actually doubts. This is what lead on to his cogito. Descartes cannot be sure that he isn’t in fact dreaming. Even though he assumes he is sitting by the fireside, he may actually be lying naked in bed. Descartes says that dreams present us with copies of things which are real, and when we dream, we combine these things. E.g. a flying cat. We have seen, outside of dreaming, a cat and also wings. Therefore, in the dream, they have been combined. He concludes that the senses are incapable of reliability; that we shouldn’t trust something, which has deceived us even once before. This seems very unreasonable as, if we mistrusted everything which deceived us once only, there would be little if no room to trust anything whatsoever. Descartes saw the method of doubt as the ideal place to start. He came to the conclusion, that to doubt is to think; and to think is to exist. An example in Russell’s “Western philosophical thought” is that “anything, which doubts, understands, affirms, conceives, wills, denies, imagines and feels is something, which is thinking. And feeling, when it occurs in dreams, is thought“. So therefore anything which thinks, also too exists. In Descartes’ wax example, he takes a piece of wax from the honeycomb in it‘s solid form. He observes that there are certain things, which are apparent towards the senses. The taste of the honey, its temperature (cold), the size, the colour, and when you tap it, it makes a sound. Yet, if we place the wax near heat, or a fire, the features and qualities change. No longer is the shape the same. It has become hot, and when you tap it there is no sound. This is the wax in its liquid form. So is the wax we see now, the same wax we saw before these changes? Before these changes were apparent, Descartes pointed out the difficulties of relying on the senses, of the physical body. In section 31 of Meditation two, he says that the perception he has, “is a case not of vision or touch or imagination - nor has it ever been, despite previous appearances - but of purely mental scrutiny“. Descartes shows that our senses cannot be used to have knowledge of things in the external world, and that knowledge of these things must come through the mind alone. Relying only on the physical senses would lead to the conclusion that the wax in its original form is a different substance than the wax in its later form. Descartes uses this wax example to prove that he has clear and distinct perceptions of things, and these perceptions can only come from reason, and not the senses. Whatever Descartes can perceive clearly and distinctly, must be true. However, what if someone is tricking Descartes into believing that all these clear and distinct ideas are true, when in fact, they may be false? Well, he says that any idea which we have, comes from a cause, which must be greater than the original thought itself. Now, because Descartes has a perfect perception of God, he knows that he could not have come up with this idea himself, and that he is not as great as the being he conceives. Therefore, God must exist. Now Descartes can rely on his “clear and distinct” ideas, as a God that is good, would never deceive him. Here we see a vicious circle. Descartes’ “clear and distinct” ideas rely on God, and the fact that God would not deceive Descartes. Next the existence of God, relies on his “clear and distinct” ideas. This is known as the “Cartesian circle”. So what makes an idea clear and distinct? Even though the senses are thought to be deceitful, when they are used properly, they can present us with ideas, which when distinct and clear enough, can become a source for knowledge. After arguing in a circle, and having each individual statement rest upon another, it seems fair to say that René Descartes has left us seriously thinking about the existence of the world we seem to have known all our lives. To contemplate that life as we know it, is only an illusion, to assume that this body, and all the other bodies around me are false. It is true that Descartes made a clear distinction between the body and the mind and said that it is possible to have thought without a body, but not a body without thought. He has given us the capability to see ourselves differently from what we really are ,and to enable us to ask questions that were never possible to ask before. It is true that we are no closer to solving the problem of certain knowledge than Descartes was, but he maintained his ideals throughout his philosophy. Although Descartes didn’t find certain knowledge, he has helped every individual in their own quest, for their own certain knowledge. Bibliography: I am from Helmsdale and would like to submit this essay to help anybody who is interested in philosophy.

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