Rene Descartes Meditations On First Philosophy

Rene Descartes’s philosophy aimed at finding an answer to all the mysteries of nature, based on mathematical reason. In his Meditations on First Philosophy, Descartes demonstrates the grounds on which people may doubt all things, the distinction between mind and body, God (which will not be discussed here), what is really true and the distinction between imagination and understanding. These arguments as set out in Mediations I – VI, form the basis of Rene Descartes’ philosophy.
In Meditation I, Descartes argues that most of all he had known to be true was in reality false. Most of the false knowledge he had received by his senses and therefore, senses deceive us sometimes and should never be granted absolute confidence again. Descartes then argues about dreams as complex imagery we sense which seems real but is not, therefore, our actual reality may be a mere dream we feel is real but is in reality, not. However, he says, some simple things we dream are definitely certain and therefore all complex things are doubtful and all simple things are necessarily true, whether in a dream or
His skeptical argument for not trusting the senses was unconvincing; he had no solid grounds to prove his belief that, if the senses deceive sometimes, they may never be trusted. Actually, he himself stated that sometimes the senses must necessarily be telling the truth. Descartes also argued that only vivid and certain knowledge was true, this conclusion was radical and unjustified as even things which were uncertain tended to be true, hence not all true knowledge must be absolutely certain. Lastly, Descartes’ conception of mind and body as united yet separate was not justified as he provided no evidence except for his own opinion and the belief that man could exist without a body. Overall, in my own opinion, I find Descartes; arguments unjustified and therefore,