Critique of descartes meditations (original) (raw)

INTRODUCTION Descartes in his first meditation, set out to show those things which can be called into doubt. In doing this, he doubted all his previously held beliefs after realizing that all his previously held beliefs formed from the senses were false. Descartes also doubted his beliefs formed from reason saying that it could that he is been deceived by an evil genius to think that they are true. But Descartes however argued that previous belief should not be jettisoned. In the second meditation, Descartes set out to establish an indubitable foundation for knowledge. Therefore he argued that since he has doubted the body, he had to be existent since he is doubting. Hence his cogito ergo sum, that is, I think therefore I am, which his indubitable foundation for knowledge is. He moves further to discover what he is and in so doing he divided his being into body and soul and averred that he is a mind. From this knowledge of the self, Descartes moves to establish other truths. He concludes that the body can only be known through understanding but the mind is the only thing that can be easily known to him. In his third meditation, Descartes continued his search for knowledge of himself. He posited that perceived things are nothing but imagination and perception which are modes of thought that dwell in him. He further examines mathematical and geometric truths and doubts them by using the argument of a deceiver who deceives him to think they are true. He argues for the existence of God, and such knowledge for him will be foundational to other things. In doing this, he divides his thought into two, ideas and images. He then moves further to establish that ideas are caused by something outside himself which he calls God. For Descartes, God necessarily exists because he has a clear and distinct idea of God on whom he is contingent for his being.

Loading...

Loading Preview

Sorry, preview is currently unavailable. You can download the paper by clicking the button above.

Ideas and Reality in Descartes

Mind, Body, and Morality: New Perspectives on Descartes and Spinoza, edited by Martina Reuter and Frans Svensson. London: Routledge, 2019