Descartes’ Method and the Search for Truth

Posted on Oct 25, 2024 in Philosophy and ethics

The Rules of Method

For Descartes, “method” is seeking the truth. To understand the “real” world, we need a method, an orderly understanding of the world.

  1. Evidence: Never accept as true any knowledge that is not presented with clarity and distinction to the mind.
  2. Analysis: Divide each problem into as many parts as necessary to find the best solution.
  3. Summary: Proceed from simple items to the knowledge of complex compounds in an orderly fashion.
  4. Enumeration: Make complete enumerations so that nothing is ignored.

Deduction: Reasoning consists in finding a truth by linking concepts together.

Doubt

Doubt is the first moment of Cartesian philosophy. It is a procedural, not skeptical, question.

  • Childhood: In childhood, we accept opinions and data from tradition or the senses as true.
  • Reason and Error: The deployment of reason in everyday life means that at some point we fall into error (we are fallible).
  • Discomfort of Uncertainty: The discomfort of uncertainty requires a firm decision to exit the situation of uncertainty, by understanding the principles of knowledge and building a knowledge base.

Arguments for Doubt

  1. Argument from the Senses: Bodily senses deceive us. We see mirages, they tell us contradictory things. Therefore, we cannot rely on them. They do not give us clear and distinct ideas.
  2. Argument from Folly: [Further explanation needed]
  3. Argument from Sleep: [Further explanation needed]
  4. Argument from a Deceiving God: Even if God is good, how can we be sure we are not being deceived?
  5. Argument from an Evil Genius: An evil genius could be in charge of our existence, using its wit to continuously trap us into believing we live in a constant illusion.

The Cogito

The Cogito (“I think, therefore I am”) is the first truth in the order of knowledge, in two ways:

  1. It is the first truth we encounter when we methodically doubt.
  2. From it, we can substantiate all other truths.

“I think, therefore I exist” means something. I am thinking, therefore I am something that affirms, denies (truth), loves, hates (freedom), imagines, and feels. I think, therefore I have thoughts and ideas. These ideas reference things.

Three Kinds of Ideas

Descartes defines three kinds of ideas according to their origin:

  1. Adventitious: Seem to come from the outside material world, drawn from sensory experience.
  2. Factitious: Come from one’s own consciousness and imagination, mixing features of adventitious ideas.
  3. Innate: Seem implanted in the mind by a higher power (God), such as the idea of God or infinity.

God’s Existence

Descartes tests whether God exists. By God’s very nature as good and truthful, God could not deceive us. God is the guarantee of reasonable access to the world. I have an idea of an infinite substance (eternal, immutable, independent, omniscient, omnipotent). But I am a finite being (created, limited, fallible, and weak).

Ontological Argument

The ontological argument links existence to perfection. God, as the sum of all perfections, cannot lack the most important feature: existence.

Structure of Metaphysical Reality

I, God, and the World are the three levels of reality or substance, defined as “that which does not need anything else to exist.”

  1. Me: Thinking substance. A created substance whose essential attribute is thought.
  2. God: Divine substance. An uncreated substance with the attribute of infinity.
  3. World: Extended substance. A created substance with the attribute of extension, divided into three dimensions (length, height, and depth), along with other features (color, texture, smell).

Provisional Morality

This is Descartes’ ethical answer to the question of how we should live. It consists of three rules:

  1. Obey the laws and customs of your country: Guide yourself by the views of the most moderate, avoiding extremes.
  2. Be firm and resolute in your actions: Think carefully before acting and remain steadfast in your decisions.
  3. Try to overcome yourself rather than fortune: Change your desires rather than trying to control the world. It is easier to change oneself than the world around us.