Essay on Certainty is Decartes Discourse of Method

Rene Descartes overall objective in publicizing Discourse of Method is to developing a new system of knowledge that is free of prior prejudices for establishing the truth of things. In Part 4 of the book he explains the philosophical basing (the meditations) for establishing the new system. These meditations were based on the epistemological theory of rationalism: that is if someone truly knows something then they could not possibly be mistaken. He goes on to provide solid argument for his ideas. In Meditations he comes to term with three certainties: the existence of the mind as the thing that thinks, the body as an extension, and God as the supreme being. He attests that he came to these conclusions†¦show more content†¦Besides, many of us, at one point in our lives, have wondered this very philosophical question: Am I dreaming? Yet, even now, most of us would claim that we are awake; however, while in a dream, on one actually believes that they are actually sleeping. Nevertheless, Decartes doesnt concretely prove that we are dreaming. He doesnt have to. Instead, he merely raises the point that, at any moment, we may be dreaming. Just by presenting this simple possibilty, Decartes successfully destroys all of our sensory beliefs. By proposing the Dream and Illusion theory Decartes is able to judge and maintain that all his former beliefs as false. Using doubt as a tool, he is able to clearly and distinctly perceive the idea of mind. The mind represented by I. Inorder to proof his idea of I did not represent the self as in physical appearances he proposes the following statement, Thus this, I, that is to say the soul through which I am what I am, is entirely distinct from the body and is even easier to know than the body, and event if there there were no boy at all, it would not cease to be all that it is (Cress, pg-19). Through this, he is able to reach the conclusion even though all things may be doubtful, the fact that we doubt is not doubtful. There is doubt, thinking; which is certain. It the doubt isShow MoreRelated The Role Of Language Essay2544 Words   |  11 Pages The Role of Language Can contemporary discourse presume a community of interest? In order to answer this question, one is forced to first answer the question, can language be used to reveal anything new? If the answer is yes, then how can it do this and how can we employ it to do this for us. Also, one is forced to ask what is it exactly that we are looking for? Once we’ve found it, how can we use it to improve our present condition? Plato and Descartes both believe that language can indeed improve