René Descartes Case

René Descartes, the paragon of rationalism, believed in clear and distinct ideas. Descartes was influenced by Plato and wrote in the time of the Scientific Revolution. In his series of Meditations, he is writing to prove that body and mind are separate, in order to explain how science could exist outside of the body and morality.

According to Descartes, before we can know what reality is, we must first consider what we mean when we say we know what reality, being, or existence is. In order to do this, we must get rid of all doubts, and only keep the ones we know are certain. This cleansing will provide us with a strong foundation for knowledge. Descartes indicates how we can guarantee our beliefs about reality by limiting what we believe to what is incorrigible, or firmly rooted in truth. For example, perceptions of the color blue or sweet tastes are corrigible by our senses. We all can attest to the fact there have been many times when our senses have fooled us, similar to when we perceive objects as smaller in the distance than they are up close. Descartes believes that sense perceptions are just as corrigible and uncertain as his belief that he exists.

Since Descartes only believes absolute senses to be true, he challenges the corrigibility of the material world with his wax argument. Wax can be perceived to have color, size, and smell; qualities that present themselves to our sense perception. However, if the wax is placed near a fire, it melts, and its shape and qualities change. Descartes' assumption is that the physical properties the object has may in fact be merely illusions of the mind. However, the change of the wax is perceived through our mind. If we didn't see the wax change, we wouldn't know if it was the same piece. Our perceptions confirm our existence and we know that substances such as the wax have extensive properties that allow its chemistry to change. Our minds have the same kind of extension, but in a different way. We are always changing and challenging our beliefs through this psychological extension. Therefore, we never know who we truly are. This idea fosters much anxiety within us.

To doubt everything might not seem reasonable, as we can only practice radical thought and not carry these thoughts into action for reasons of danger. If we doubt the laws of gravity, we may think we can exit a building through the sixth story floor. Descartes certainly does not mean that we really should doubt everything because some things are obvious through habit. Descartes uses this method in order to see if there is some belief that cannot be doubted. In addition to doubting sense experiences, another theory to challenge our existence is to distinguish between our awaken state and dreaming state.

How are we sure that we are not dreaming some particular experience we have, or that we are not dreaming all of our experiences of the world? Even though it may seem like our dreams are really occurring, we are subconsciously aware our dream isn't reality because we don't react to the incredible occurrences that only occur in a dream. Descartes' intention for the dream argument is to prove that we cannot be sure that what we experience is reality. I am not so confident in this argument of Descartes'. I personally never remember my dreams and can tell the difference between reality and dreaming when I do remember them. I believe his argument is flawed because for most people, there is something about a dream that makes it distinct from reality.

With his method of reasoning, Descartes goal was to establish that there are actually two realities: mind and matter. There is a dualism in nature that separates our body and mind. He explains we are trapped in our material bodies with our immaterial mind. Our bodies cause our perceptions and have influence on

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