Descartes\' Meditations, Senses, and Rationalism

Descartes' Meditations, Senses, and Rationalism

By the end of the 2nd meditation, Descartes believes that it is certain (or indubitable) that he himself, taken as a thinking thing, exists. He notes that his senses have, indeed, deceived him previously -- sensory information is often fluid (e.g. he judged a stick poked into the water was bent, when in fact it was straight). Thus, there are indeed cogent reasons for his disbelief, which he calls methodic doubt, or a skeptical hypothesis.

Rationalism, in philosophy, shares a number of principles of Empiricism: both say that humans do not know things directly but only by their impressions on what they observe or attempt to understand. Rationalism focuses more on the cognitive or intellectual view, while empiricism on the observations made by the senses. It is to what extent that we as humans become aware of issues that combine the way we perceive that establishes the human ability to follow a Socratic life of inquiry and continued learning. Over the centuries, the task of exploring rationalism changed somehow by the actual study and interpretation of that knowledge. While we know that this basic question has been debated for centuries, it was Rene' Descartes who focused more that only the discovery of reasonable knowledge and eternal truths were found by reason alone. These truths, for Descartes, included the basic language of the universe for him -- mathematics, as well as the epistemological and metaphysical foundations of the sciences as a whole. Other knowledge, for example the knowledge required by utilizing one's experiences within the world, were aided by analysis, reason, and a combination of sensual (Cottingham).

Cartesian Philosophy - For Descartes, it was important to attempt to uncover the certainty of ideas, and the basic thought process and center of "though itself" of primary importance. For example, if Descartes doubted the veracity of something, then his doubting must prove that he exists and is true…. To doubt is to think, to think is to exist. True as a basic axiom and metaphysical truth for Descartes and the very starting point for his views of humanity, the universe, and even the divine.. Taking this a step further, we must look at Descartes' manner of looking at the divine and the cosmos. Remembering the time period in which he lived, it was important that he be able to justify the divine in his own works. Therefore, Descartes finds that: a) Man is subject to doubt, therefore imperfect. If imperfect, he must not be the cause of his own existence; b) If Man can envision the idea of the perfect, the ability to form this idea must come from the Creator; c) If one can argue the perfect and the creation, this must then imply that the Creator exists (Broughton). God then, in Cartesian philosophy, is a true substance, more idea than religious, and is the first and most basic principle of the universe; other ideas outside of God are derived from observation and sensation, and may be true or false, with only innate ideas being completely valid. This proof of the divine moves then to a distinct idea of extension and the universe then, must be created by God as a larger machine in which all substances, organic and inorganic, are part of that machine and have a particular form and use (Garber).

However, before we can analyze rationalism, we must first understand that if Descartes proves the existence of the world, man, and the universe through extensive, then his entire metrology also must have a simple metaphysical dualism -- a thinking substance, res cogitans, in which the Creator and Created can both exist within the same plane or universe. If this is true, then thoughts that mankind form -- principles of morality and knowledge of a rational life -- are determined solely by reason because the Creator allowed Man to have that capability which then must mean that the capability produces truth. To prove these ideas, Cartesian Rationality asks the reader to take formal steps into the manner of analysis and development within the ideological process. In six steps then, we can review Descartes' view on how it is a rationalization that uncovers the truth of the Universe. Because so much of the basic principles of Cartesian Rationalism are based on the actual premise of doubt, it is understandable that Descartes begins his Meditations on the sense of doubt as a precursor to thought, with the manner of gleaning information:

"All that I have, up to this moment, accepted as possessed of the highest truth and certainty, I received either from or through the senses. I observed, however, that these sometimes misled us; and it is the part of prudence not to place absolute confidence in that by which we have even once been deceived" (Meditations 1:3, hereafter M).

Justification of Viewpoint -- Even when Descartes doubts his senses, arguing that they occasional mislead us, or more truthfully, that we are unable to uncover the true meaning at that moment. Descartes notes that his senses have, indeed, deceived him previously -- sensory information is often fluid (e.g. he judged a stick poked into the water was bent, when in fact it was straight). Thus, there are indeed cogent reasons for his disbelief, which he calls methodic doubt, or a skeptical hypothesis. For example, Descartes discusses our thoughts while dreaming as being false in fact, but true in form -- thus our own innate ability to render matter unnecessary and move into the metaphysical and explanatory of what is true and reasonable to the individual: