Rene Descartes Discourse On Method
Adrienne Pyle
Honors 200: Dr. Averett
27 September 2014
Discourse on Method and Meditations on First Philosophy
Author: René Descartes
Translator: Donald A. Cress
Publication Date: 1639
Brief Plot Summary: In Discourse on Method, Descartes starts by affirming that everyone has “good sense,” as is natural of human nature. This “good sense” is essentially the ability to determine something to be true or falsehood/imagination. In order to build one’s self up in education beyond this basic cognitive ability, one must follow a method of studying both the world and one’s self in a manner unaffected by the education one receives. Descartes begins his own method of thinking while in a room heated by a stove. After some thought, he believes that …show more content…
Humans, Descartes furthermore claims, are the only being capable of speech, and are therefore the only being that has a rational soul. The soul, an extension of God’s perfection, inherently cannot die due to its perfection, and is therefore immortal. In Meditations on First Philosophy, Descartes furthers his point that the senses cannot be trusted because he experiences very realistic sensations when he is dreaming. However, because he dreams of these feelings in his body in his mind, these parts of his body must exist. While dreaming, Descartes says, one borrows aspects from reality that must exist—shapes, colors, numbers—and are therefore the manifestation of truth. He goes on to say that he must doubt everything perceived by the senses because a demon must be trying to trick him into believing in false realities. Thinking, he says, is different from perception in the mind, because perception is the intellect making sense of the senses. Thus, Descartes is only sure that the mind exists, at this …show more content…
Therefore, this infinite being must exist. Thus, the infinite being must be God. The same is true for God’s perfection: because Descartes can perceive that he himself is not perfect, there must exist a being—God—that is perfect, or else Descartes would not have something against which to compare his own imperfection. Furthermore, without the existence of God, the being from which truth originates, there would be no truthful, distinct things in life that Descartes can perceive do exist because he can perceive them in him mind—namely, mathematical equations and science. He then determines that, though the body is distinct from the mind, there exists some connection between the two. Therefore, he is certain that he does indeed have an existing body. This body is an extension of his senses, and thus can be trusted once
Honors 200: Dr. Averett
27 September 2014
Discourse on Method and Meditations on First Philosophy
Author: René Descartes
Translator: Donald A. Cress
Publication Date: 1639
Brief Plot Summary: In Discourse on Method, Descartes starts by affirming that everyone has “good sense,” as is natural of human nature. This “good sense” is essentially the ability to determine something to be true or falsehood/imagination. In order to build one’s self up in education beyond this basic cognitive ability, one must follow a method of studying both the world and one’s self in a manner unaffected by the education one receives. Descartes begins his own method of thinking while in a room heated by a stove. After some thought, he believes that …show more content…
Humans, Descartes furthermore claims, are the only being capable of speech, and are therefore the only being that has a rational soul. The soul, an extension of God’s perfection, inherently cannot die due to its perfection, and is therefore immortal. In Meditations on First Philosophy, Descartes furthers his point that the senses cannot be trusted because he experiences very realistic sensations when he is dreaming. However, because he dreams of these feelings in his body in his mind, these parts of his body must exist. While dreaming, Descartes says, one borrows aspects from reality that must exist—shapes, colors, numbers—and are therefore the manifestation of truth. He goes on to say that he must doubt everything perceived by the senses because a demon must be trying to trick him into believing in false realities. Thinking, he says, is different from perception in the mind, because perception is the intellect making sense of the senses. Thus, Descartes is only sure that the mind exists, at this …show more content…
Therefore, this infinite being must exist. Thus, the infinite being must be God. The same is true for God’s perfection: because Descartes can perceive that he himself is not perfect, there must exist a being—God—that is perfect, or else Descartes would not have something against which to compare his own imperfection. Furthermore, without the existence of God, the being from which truth originates, there would be no truthful, distinct things in life that Descartes can perceive do exist because he can perceive them in him mind—namely, mathematical equations and science. He then determines that, though the body is distinct from the mind, there exists some connection between the two. Therefore, he is certain that he does indeed have an existing body. This body is an extension of his senses, and thus can be trusted once