Descartes' Method and Philosophy

Descartes' Method (Meditations)

Introduction

Descartes sought a reliable method for attaining true scientific knowledge. He aimed to establish a foundation for reasoning and certainty.

Depth

The method needed to be simple, error-proof, and conducive to expanding knowledge. However, relying solely on the senses proved insufficient for acquiring genuine knowledge. Descartes' method analyzes ideas rationally, prioritizing the reliability of innate ideas over sensory experience. Inspired by mathematics, it involves four key rules:

1. Accept only clear and distinct ideas as true, grasped through intuition (immediate knowledge).
2. Analyze complex ideas by breaking them down into simpler, clear, and distinct components.
3. Reconstruct the analyzed idea through synthesis, ensuring a comprehensive understanding.
4. Perform frequent checks of both analysis and synthesis to guarantee the validity of conclusions.

This deductive method addresses questions beyond the scope of mathematics.

Application

In both Discourse on Method and Meditations, Descartes employs methodical doubt, questioning all prior knowledge. This is not absolute skepticism, but a systematic process to find an undeniable truth. He uses provisional moral guidelines while in this state of doubt, outlined in Discourse on Method:

1. Sensory perceptions are unreliable.
2. Deductive reasoning, even in mathematics, can be flawed.
3. The external world's existence is questionable, citing the difficulty in distinguishing dreams from reality and the hypothesis of an evil genius deceiving us.

God

Descartes demonstrates God's existence through the concept of causality, similar to Aquinas. God, as the perfect being, guarantees the truth of our clear and distinct ideas, including the external world, the soul, and God himself. These innate ideas are self-evident and serve as the foundation for knowledge.

Cartesian Epistemology

Criterion of Truth and Nature of Ideas

Through methodical doubt, Descartes establishes clarity and distinction as the criteria for truth. He distinguishes between:

• Natural inclination: Gives a false impression of certainty but doesn't provide true knowledge.
• Natural light: Enables us to recognize clear and distinct ideas, leading to true knowledge.

Descartes' criterion of truth involves:

• Distrust of the senses.
• Rejection of imagination as a source of absolute truth.
• Confidence in reason.
• Reliance on intuition for indubitable knowledge.
• Use of the deductive method, though less reliable than intuition.

Idealism

Ideas are the fundamental elements of thought. Judgments about these ideas can be true or false based on their correspondence with the objects they represent.

Typology of Ideas

• Innate ideas: Inherent and reliable, forming the basis of knowledge.
• Adventitious ideas: Derived from the senses and unreliable.
• Fictitious ideas: Created by the mind, such as the concept of a siren.