Research Paper: The Cartesian Circle
The Cartesian Circle
Descartes found that many things he thought were true were actually false. This led Descartes to try and find a way to figure out what you know and what you cannot know. To do this, Descartes assumes that he knows nothing. In order to find what one can actually know, he attempts to build from the ground up and build a body of knowledge that must in fact be true. That means he wants to find clear and indubitable propositions on which to base knowledge. For a proposition to be clear and indubitable, it has to be impossible to build a story in which this proposition is thought to be true but is in fact false. Descartes creates an evil genius that is omnipotent, omnipresent and all bad to help him determine if a proposition is clear and indubitable. This evil genius will try to make you …show more content…
The first proposition Descartes comes up with is the cogito, or “I think therefore I am.” The second clear and indubitable proposition is that God exists. In this paper, I will explain how he comes up with these propositions and object to them using the Cartesian circle.
Descartes first clear and indubitable proposition is “I think therefore I am.” He says that this is a clear and indubitable proposition because if you try to doubt the fact that you think, you are in fact thinking. He says, “Doubtless I did exist, if I persuaded myself of something. But there is some deceiver or other who is supremely powerful and supremely sly and who is always deliberately deceiving me. Then too there is no doubt that I exist, if he is deceiving me” (492). Descartes then uses this clear and indubitable proposition to come up with his next clear and indubitable proposition, which is that God exists. To prove this, Descartes first uses the trademark argument. This argument says, I have an idea of God. My idea of God is of a substance that
Descartes found that many things he thought were true were actually false. This led Descartes to try and find a way to figure out what you know and what you cannot know. To do this, Descartes assumes that he knows nothing. In order to find what one can actually know, he attempts to build from the ground up and build a body of knowledge that must in fact be true. That means he wants to find clear and indubitable propositions on which to base knowledge. For a proposition to be clear and indubitable, it has to be impossible to build a story in which this proposition is thought to be true but is in fact false. Descartes creates an evil genius that is omnipotent, omnipresent and all bad to help him determine if a proposition is clear and indubitable. This evil genius will try to make you …show more content…
The first proposition Descartes comes up with is the cogito, or “I think therefore I am.” The second clear and indubitable proposition is that God exists. In this paper, I will explain how he comes up with these propositions and object to them using the Cartesian circle.
Descartes first clear and indubitable proposition is “I think therefore I am.” He says that this is a clear and indubitable proposition because if you try to doubt the fact that you think, you are in fact thinking. He says, “Doubtless I did exist, if I persuaded myself of something. But there is some deceiver or other who is supremely powerful and supremely sly and who is always deliberately deceiving me. Then too there is no doubt that I exist, if he is deceiving me” (492). Descartes then uses this clear and indubitable proposition to come up with his next clear and indubitable proposition, which is that God exists. To prove this, Descartes first uses the trademark argument. This argument says, I have an idea of God. My idea of God is of a substance that