Descartes’ Philosophy: Method, Doubt, and Existence
Descartes
Context
Born in The Hague in 1596, René Descartes was fortunate to study at the prestigious La Flèche French school, though he found scholastic training restrictive. After an adolescence marked by illness, he participated in the Thirty Years’ War. Descartes, initially inclined towards science, eventually became the founder of rationalism. His philosophical views led to conflicts, notably at the University of Utrecht, forcing him to flee to Sweden, where he was welcomed by Queen Christina.
Descartes lived during a critical period in Europe, marked by the Thirty Years’ War, which determined European hegemony. Following the Peace of Westphalia, Spain experienced irreversible decline while France ascended as the most influential power. The war had devastating socioeconomic consequences, drastically reducing the population and plunging European states into deep crisis, exacerbated by poor harvests, plagues, and pestilence.
Politically, the era saw the rise of the absolutist state, centralizing power in the monarch, appointed by God. Socially, the estates system prevailed, with the king at the apex, followed by the nobility and higher clergy, and finally the commoners or Third Estate. In France, absolutism was consolidated under Louis XIII with Cardinal Richelieu’s support, centralizing power in the sovereign. This splendor continued under Louis XIV, aided by Cardinal Mazarin, who prioritized the nobility over the bourgeoisie.
Religiously, the period witnessed the confrontation between the Protestant Reformation and the Catholic Counter-Reformation, emphasizing the Jesuit order. Conflicts between Catholics and Protestants highlighted Lutherans, advocating for religious poverty, and Calvinists, believing in predestination. In England, Anglicanism gained prominence under Henry VIII. France saw the rise of Gallicanism during the Sun King’s reign, mirroring Henry VIII’s actions, though ultimately reversed.
Artistically, the era reflected the Church’s restrengthening. Baroque architecture and sculpture featured curved lines, imbalance, and movement, referencing life’s transience and seeking spiritual reflection. Notable artists included Velázquez, Rubens, Rembrandt, Caravaggio, Bernini, and Shakespeare. It was also the Golden Age of Spanish literature. In Spain, the “guardian of Catholicism,” Easter processions were significant, fostering two sculpture schools in Valladolid and Seville.
Descartes’ philosophical framework was shaped by scholastic philosophy from his youth and Montaigne’s skepticism. Cartesian philosophy aimed to find indubitable truth, countering skeptics. It was influenced by pre-Socratic natural studies and scientific advancements. Libertines, followers of skepticism, and Francis Bacon’s empirical method also played a role. Descartes engaged in extensive discussions with philosophers like Gassendi and Hobbes, the latter an empiricist who argued that “man is a wolf to man himself.”
Descartes’ philosophy coincided with the scientific revolution initiated by Galileo. Rationalists, led by Descartes, valued mathematics for its contribution to science and proposed a mechanistic interpretation of nature, seeking a reliable method akin to mathematics to ensure knowledge progression. This led to the “clock theory,” viewing the universe as a precise mechanism governed by mathematical calculations.
Work
The Meditations was published in Holland, known for its religious tolerance, allowing Descartes to develop his philosophical system outlined in the Discourse on Method. In the Meditations, Descartes addressed the resurgence of skepticism due to the Catholic-Protestant conflict, aiming to establish a new metaphysics to replace scholasticism and overcome skeptical arguments by finding an indubitable truth. This work founded rationalism and inaugurated modern philosophy.
Thought
Rules of Method
Descartes’ primary objective was to establish a method, based on rules, to ensure correct reasoning and knowledge reconstruction. These rules are:
- Rule of Evidence: Reject unclear and indistinct ideas, relying on intuition or deduction.
- Rule of Analysis: Reduce complexity to its simplest components, known intuitively.
- Rule of Synthesis: Deductively reconstruct the complex from the simple.
- Rule of Enumeration: Verify the precision of previous steps.
Methodical Doubt and the Cogito
Methodical doubt is applied to find indubitable truth. Its features are:
- Methodical: A tool to find the foundation of metaphysics.
- Theoretical: Applied only to philosophy, not religion or morality.
- Universal: Questions all knowledge, except religious and moral.
Doubt applies to four areas:
- Senses: They can deceive, so distrust sensory knowledge.
- Dreams: Dreams can seem real, blurring reality and illusion.
- Deceiving God: Even mathematical reasoning could be manipulated by a trickster God.
- Evil Genius: A supernatural entity could deceive us.
Descartes concluded that he could doubt everything except his own thinking, leading to “Cogito, ergo sum” (I think, therefore I am) as the first certainty of metaphysics. However, this raises the issue of solipsism, questioning the existence of external reality. Descartes posits two substances: God (Res Infinita) and finite substances (Res Extensa, body, and Res Cogitans, mind). He identifies three types of ideas: Adventitia (external), Factitious (imagined), and Innate (inborn).
Demonstration of God’s Existence
Descartes argues for God’s existence through the innate idea of an infinitely perfect being, the ontological argument, and the argument from contingency.
Anthropology
Cartesian dualism distinguishes between Res Cogitans (soul) and Res Extensa (body), connected through the pineal gland.
Ethics
Descartes’ provisional ethics involves obeying laws and customs, acting decisively, focusing on self-improvement, and choosing occupations based on truth-seeking.