er, etc. Thus, the other sciences that are derived from philosophy are also built on unsteady foundation. The proper task of philosophy is to start fresh with a new science. Philosophy has to be built on a solid foundation. There cant be disputes about the legitimacy of the philosophy and the arguments that it makes. Thus, the first thing the Descartes does is to create a new metaphysics. If he basis his new metaphysics on certainty than everything being derived from it, if it is made with valid and sound argument, will also be on solid foundation. Descartes starts out by throwing out every belief that he has. This is a difficult task but Descartes wants us to have no belief about anything, just a clear head. He wants to take a skeptical approach by doubting things and rebuilding on a sure foundation instead of just listing his new metaphysics out. This allows the reader to actually think about the arguments that he makes form not believing or believing them. First, Descartes argues for us to doubt our senses. In the Illusion and Dream arguments, he does this by asking are you Dream or are you awake. If you dont know that you are awake or asleep, then how can you know that what you see is in a dream or what you are actually looking at. He simply does this by making you doubt the fact that you are awake. If you have a doubt then you are not certain. The foundation that you build upon has to be certain, thus senses cant be used because it is not certain. Descartes wants you rid of all sensory beliefs and wants you to appeal to reason only. He is looking for some ground to build his physics on. First, wants to know if he exists, and he comes to the conclusion that if he thinks then he exists. As a thing not a person with hands, feet, etc. Now that he has his foundation he can build on it. He slowly builds up his metaphysics based on grounds that what he believes is certain. He says that you must have a clear and dist...
