Descartes and the Quest for Certainty (Essay Sample)

Descartes and the Quest for Certainty
Ch.15
The French philosopher Rene Descartes aimed to provide a secure foundation for all knowledge. To have knowledge, according to Descartes, one’s beliefs must be indubitable. They must be ultimately justifiable on the basis of certain first principles, which cannot be doubted. In order to attain certainty, Descartes introduces a sceptical method for evaluating and testing his beliefs in the Meditations on First Philosophy. He considers several bizarre possibilities about the sources of his beliefs, which, if true, can show how Descartes’ beliefs can be false despite the appearance of truth. If these sceptical possibilities cannot be refuted, Descartes’ beliefs cannot be certain (Stewart et al. 173). In the following lines, I reconstruct Descartes’ discussion in the First Meditation.
One of the sceptical possibilities Descartes raises is the possibility that all of his experiences are a product of dreams. For example, the experience of sitting by his fire could be just a dream (Stewart et al. 174). If Descartes can be dreaming even when it appears to him that he is awake, however, then the beliefs formed on the basis of his sensory perception are not really trustworthy.
The other sceptical possibility involves a hypothetical evil demon who may be deceiving Descartes about his specifically intellectual beliefs: beliefs concerning logical and mathematical truths. If there is an evil demon who compels Descartes to believe falsehoods, despite their appearance of clarity and distinctness, then Descartes’ purely intellectual beliefs are not reliable either. It may appear indubitable that 5 + 7 = 12. But if the evil demon exists and causes Descartes to believe falsehoods even when he thinks he possesses rational insight into truths, this mathematical statement is not truly indubitable (Stewart et al. 173-6). In light of these sceptical possibilities, it appears that Descartes cannot be certain that any of his beliefs are true. The Second Meditation is focused on dispelling these doubts with respect to Descartes’ own existence.
Descartes reasons that there is one central piece of knowledge which can be retained even in a scenario in which he is being deceived by an evil demon. In virtue of thinking, forming beliefs, and entertaining doubts about the sources of his beliefs, Descartes can know that he necessarily exists. He is a thinking thing that exists (Stewart et al. 177). This is an example of a first principle that could provide foundation for knowledge. Yet, Descartes’ own existence as a thinker can only substantiate his beliefs about his own mental states (Stewart et al. 179). To provide foundations for his beliefs about how the world is outside of himself, Descartes turns to another possible first principle. I consider this principle next.
In the Third Meditation, Descartes formulates a general principle for forming reliable beliefs: “whatever is understood clearly and distinctly is true” (Stewart et al. 179). In order to rely on this principle, Descartes needs to prove that