Descartes or Sartre\'s Theory

Philosophical Discussion of Descartes

Man's incredible thirst for knowledge has spurred our species domination of the physical world, while also guiding the refinement of our morality, but throughout history the role of assumption in shaping knowledge has been the subject of intense philosophical debate. While Plato uses the sudden comprehension of geometric rules a slave in his classic Meno as proof that the paradox of learning is false, Descartes remained unconvinced when he wrote his revolutionary contribution to the pursuit of knowledge, Discourse on the Method. Seeking to strip his understanding of knowledge to the bare minimum by removing all ideas which can subject to reasonable doubt, Descartes separates assumptions from true knowledge because, in his view, any perception based only on sensory input must be flawed because the human sensory system is known to be wrong (Collingwood 3). By rejecting the role of assumptions in forming knowledge, Descartes devises perhaps the most well recognized philosophical expressions ever formed: Cogito ergo sum (I think, therefore I am). According to Descartes and his philosophy of dualism, "there are two (and only two) kinds of (created) substances, namely minds or thinking substances and bodies or corporeal substances & #8230; a dualistic metaphysics that there are 'two parallel but independent worlds, that of mind and that of matter, each of which can be studied without reference to the other" (Baker & Morris 11). Descartes supports his controversial view that the mind is not a physical substance by demonstrating throughout his philosophical writings that knowledge, which is widely believed to exist in the real world, is actually-based mostly on assumptions with no basis in reality.

Despite the revelations found within Descartes' epistemological theories, it is clear that much of the modern human experience is based on widely held assumptions that have been collectively mistaken for knowledge. Cultural beliefs built up over dozens of generations, religious doctrine issued through the official church, and mistaken conclusions accepted by the public at face value are examples of assumption taking the place of empirical examination and logical reasoning. With the advent of anonymously contributed encyclopedia entries in Wikipedia, which is capable of instantly transmitting incorrect information to millions of people, the internet age has only widened the divide between assumption and knowledge that Descartes discussed. The blockbuster science-fiction film The Matrix explores this idea with haunting accuracy, depicting the demise of human civilization as the result of man's willingness to mistake things which are assumed to be real for reality. In the film, Descartes' separation of the mind and body is taken literally, and human beings are enslaved because their minds are unable to tell the difference between what is real and what is imagined. Whether demonstrated by Meno's inability to define what he "knows" about virtue, or Descartes' willingness to admit that he cannot really "know" himself, philosophical discussions of assumption vs. knowledge have shown that despite our unique cognitive capability for learning, the breadth of human knowledge may be based on nothing more meaningful than the illusion of assumption.