the method meditations and philosophy of descartes

My reason tells me that as well as withholding assent from propositions that are obviously false, I should also withhold it from ones that are not completely certain and indubitable. I can do this without showing that all my beliefs are false, which is probably more than I could ever manage. I am here quite alone, and at last I will devote myself, sincerely and without holding back, to demolishing my opinions. So today I have set all my worries aside and arranged for myself a clear stretch of free time.

I have now delayed it for so long that I have no excuse for going on planning to do it rather than getting to work.

It looked like an enormous task, and I decided to wait until I was old enough to be sure that there was nothing to be gained from putting it off any longer. I realized that if I wanted to establish anything in the sciences that was stable and likely to last, I needed-just once in my life-to demolish everything completely and start again from the foundations. Some years ago I was struck by how many false things I had believed, and by how doubtful was the structure of beliefs that I had based on them. The Cartesian Method of Doubt (Meditation 1)ĭescartes begins his first Meditation by laying out the reasons why he is choosing to doubt all his beliefs, and the method by which he will go about doing it. Except instead of doing it for just one of his beliefs, he tries to do it for all of his beliefs. This is the method of doubt that René Descartes uses in the reading for today. Now, consider: Is there any way that this ‘bedrock belief’ could be false? Under what circumstances would I change my opinion about this belief? It’s probably a belief as basic as “I trust what my senses tell me is accurate,” or “All things must have a cause” (if your belief isn’t this basic, dig deeper!). Continue this pattern of asking why and stating a ‘deeper’ belief that justifies each previous one, until you hit ‘belief bedrock,’ a belief that isn’t justified by any others, but is something you seem to know beyond doubt to be true. Then, ask yourself why you believe this new claim. Next, ask yourself, why do you believe that? You might reply “Because they are a better team than their opponent,” or “Because I feel His presence throughout the day.” It could be anything from “my favorite team will win their game tonight” to “God is watching over me.” First, start with any belief you hold about your day today. If you have ever spent any time with a young child, you’ve probably played a game like this before.

The method meditations and philosophy of descartes