7.

Descartes 1 - The Method of Doubt Descartes occupies an important place in the history of philosophy, especially what we call modern philosophy. Descartes writes his most famous philosophy piece, The Meditations on first Philosophy in 1641 !. "e wrote many other thin#s, but we will focusin# on this particular pieces. There is $uite a #ap between our last lecture with %ristotle in &'' ( and Descartes in 1641 but that is because durin# the Medie)al period *Medie)al meanin# middle+ althou#h lots of interestin# thin#s happened, one can sort of #i)e a #eneralised )iew that what #oes on in that period as the hristianisation and the Muslimisation of the )iews of %ristotle and or Plato. ,enee Descartes is a -rench philosopher. "e li)ed in an interestin# period of time because there is .ust the be#innin# of this rebellion a#ainst %ristotle in the /estern world. There is a #roup of people who are associated with the re.ection of %ristotle. /e ha)e 0alileo *1164-1642 !+, Descartes *1136-161'+ and 4ewton *164&-1727+. This is the be#innin# of the end of %ristotle5s hold on /estern philosophy. %t this time the dominant )iew, in the /est would ha)e been a hristianised )iew of %ristotle and his physics and philosophy. (ut #enerally at this time, people start attac6in# this )iew on empirical #rounds. ,ecent empirical wor6 su##ests that %ristotle5s )iew is not correct. %nd one of the main empirical #rounds which they are attac6in# the wor6 of %ristotle is based on the wor6 which is comin# out of the in)ention of the telescope. 7t5s a bit of a misnomer to say that 0alileo in)ents the telescope because optics were well 6nown, but what 0alileo actually does is to in)ent a method of #rindin# the lenses which allows people to manufacture these lenses with a lot more detail and care and therefore manufacture telescopes and thin#s which actually ma#nify thin#s hundreds of times their si8e. %nd if you turn a telescope around, what you #et is a microscope so at this point in time people are startin# to loo6 around with these new tools. 9ne of the most startlin# thin#s that people disco)er is if they point the telescope at the moon, what they find up there seems to be much li6e what we find around here so its a #iant roc6 floatin# in space. %nd of course this contradicted %ristotle5s notion that the planets were made of a completely different 6ind of material that resembled nothin# here on !arth. They were perfect, immutable and mo)ed in perfect circles around the !arth. /hen you loo6 at the moon you see craters etc and it is much li6e the landscape here on !arth but more barren. :o that was $uite a shoc6 to people. The other bi# chan#e at this time which 0alileo was also implicated in, is the rise of the heliocentric )iew of the uni)erse *sun at the centre+. :o this is a denial of %ristotle5s )iew that the !arth is at the centre of the uni)erse. This was so anticommon sense and this )iew had been incorporated into )arious reli#ions so the atholic church declared that this )iew was heresy and famously 0alileo was almost e;communicated. %nother attac6 on %ristotle5s )iews was that %ristotle claimed that hea)ier ob.ects fall faster than li#hter ob.ects. This is in accord with common sense. (ut 0alileo was one of the first to actually test this idea and he timed ob.ects as they rolled downhill and disco)ered that they all accelerate at a uniform rate. This is the be#innin# of the !mpiricist mo)ement. /e will turn to empiricism after we finish tal6in# about

Descartes. The famous empiricists are <ohn =oc6e 16&2-17'4, 0eor#e (er6eley 16>1171& and Da)id "ume 1711-1776. Descartes is still a rationalist. Descartes is )ery critical of %ristotle5s )iews *but is also in some ways in the %ristotelian tradition. "e is on the cusp and in some sense has his feet in both traditions. Descartes is a champion of what is called 5mechanistic philosophy5 and this is the )iew that he is first introduced to by 0alileo. The #uidin# metaphor of mechanistic philosophy is the idea that the world is a #iant machine. The idea of cloc6wor6 is what they mean by mechanism. :o there is a lot of mo)ement #oin# on inside these mechanisms but there is no mo)ement which is initiated on its own. %ll of the mo)ement is caused by the mo)ement of another part. :o the main ob.ection they ha)e to %ristotle is that ob.ects do not mo)e themsel)es. Descartes and his fellows accuse %ristotle of puttin# mind into nature. :o Descartes etc want to separate the material and the formal causes from efficient and final causes which are properties of mind only. The material and formal causes #o into the natural world and efficient and final causes #o into the mind. Descartes is really responsible for focusin# philosophy of epistemolo#y. "is #oal is to find a foundation on which all other 6nowled#e can be built. "e a#rees with Plato that 6nowled#e re$uires certainty. (ut he re.ects Plato5s idea that the physical world is not 6nowable. ?ou recall that Plato said the physical world was constantly chan#in# and real 6nowled#e re$uired non-chan#e. :o Descartes want certainty as well. (ut what does it mean to be certain@ -or Descartes, what it means to be certain is bein# unable to doubt. :o somethin# that cannot possibly be doubted is certain. :o his strate#y is to adopt what has come to be called the Method of Doubt. *MoD+ The method rou#hly wor6s as follows This method instructs us to ta6e our beliefs and sub.ect them to doubt. 7f it is possible to doubt those thin#s , then we treat them as false. /e repeat this until we find somethin# we are unable to doubt. That is the method in a nutshell. :o it needs to be pointed out that Descartes ne)er thin6s that these thin#s are actually false. 7t .ust means that we don5t 56now5 it and they cannot ser)e as a foundation. The point is that we treat them as false until we find a foundation which is undoubtable. Then we use that thin# which is undoubtable as a foundation and we build up e)erythin# on top of that. (y 5possible to doubt5 Descartes means any possibility what so e)er. :o we ha)e a belief and we try to thin6 of any scenario in which that belief could be false. /e try to thin6 up the most far fetched scenario and if we do that it will #uarantee that whate)er cant be doubted in really certain. :o if we could find somethin# that was truly undoubtable in this sense we could use it in a )alid ar#ument *li6e a syllo#ism+. The conclusion of which would be that the world e;ists in the way that we thin6 it does. :o this is rou#hly Descartes strate#y. To find somethin# that is 6nowable with certainty and then use that thin# to build 6nowled#e of the physical world. Step One - Doubting the Senses

Descartes be#ins by pointin# out that our senses are unreliable. :o we can doubt what our senses tell us is accurate, and so they cannot be the foundation. Step Two - Doubting the Physical World (ut e)en thou#h the senses are unreliable, we should be able to trust them #enerally. :urely we can5t doubt the ob.ects ri#ht inn front of us e;ist@ Descartes says yes we can doubt that. -or e;ample, in our dreams we ha)e seen these ob.ects and we could be dreamin# ri#ht now. "ow can we rule this out@ Descartes says you cant rule it out at least not on the basis of sensory e;perience. (ecause anythin# you could cite as e)idence would also be true in the dream. :o for e;ample if you say you can see a table, or feel a table, how could 7 doubt that e;perience@ (ut anythin# you see and feel would be e;actly the same in a dream. Descartes ta6e this to an e;treme by ima#inin# there is an e)il #enius. This e)il #enius has the powers of 0od, but who is not #ood. The e)il #enius is determined to decei)e you into thin6in# there is a physical world when there isn5t one. 4ow Descartes doesn5t really thin6 there is an e)il #enius, but his point is that there is no way to rule that out merely on the basis of our sensory e;perience. :o what Descartes is tal6in# about is somethin# a6in to the mo)ie the matri;, or the mo)ie inception. !;cept Descartes )ersion is a bit more radical, because he is ima#inin# there is no outside to the matri;. !)erythin# would seem to you .ust li6e it does ri#ht now but none of it would be real. "is point is that we cannot use this as the foundation of 6nowled#e because there is this *albeit small+ possibility that we cant rule out. Step Three - Doubting mathematics (ut surely 1 A 1 B 2 must be certainC /hether or not the physical world is real, the mathematical truths should be true. This is where Plato loo6ed for certainty. (ut Descartes thin6 he can ima#ine a scenario in which 1A1 does not e$ual 2. /e are all familiar with ma6in# mista6es in mathematics. :o for e;ample you do some mathematical problem and #et some answer that seems to be absolutely correct, only to find out that the answer is wron#. /e are also familiar with doin# the problem, #ettin# an answer, chec6in# your wor6, #ettin# the same answer, only to find out that the answer is wron#. This is because we are ma6in# some mista6e and not noticin# it. :o couldn5t it be possible that in reality 1A1 actually e$uals &, and the e)il #enius is tric6in# me into thin6in# that 1A1B2 is true by hidin# some mista6e from me e)ery time 7 count or do mathematics. :o we can ima#ine a scenario where mathematical proofs are not ri#ht. :o Descartes says, well this cannot be our foundation. Review - summing up so far - Descartes de)eloped a method desi#ned to deli)er certainty - The method is 6nown as the Method of Doubt - -or the purposes of the method, if we can doubt a belief then we treat that belief as false - "e applies this method systematically - "e doubts that the world is the way that it appears

- "e doubts that there is a physical world at all - "e doubts the mathematical truths Cogito ergo Sum - "owe)er there is one thin# that he cannot doubt - That is, that while he is doubtin# he must e;ist. - co#ito B 7 thin6, er#o B therefore, sum B 7 am - !)en if there were an e)il #enius and e)en if he was decei)in# me into thin6in# there was a physical world when there in fact wasn5t one, it couldn5t be the case that 7 thin6 there is pa physical world if there wasn5t a me to be decei)ed. - :o when 7 am thin6in# 7 6now 7 e;ist, this cant be doubted. 7f 7 am doin# the thin6in#, and 7 am bein# decei)ed, then there must be a me that is bein# decei)ed. - :o this is the product of his method, we 6now with absolute certainty that whene)er 7 am thin6in# 7 must e;ist. The oundation - :o now he has disco)ered somethin# certain - "e e;ists as a thin6in# thin#. "e cannot doubt that he e;ists. This is the foundation on which he plans to build bac6 all of the stuff he pre)iously doubted. "e then notices that this piece of 6nowled#e has a certain $uality that he calls bein# 5clear and distinct5. %n idea is clear if it is 5manifest to an attenti)e mind5. That is, if you were awa6e and attenti)e, well fed, not distracted, etc, you would see that it is true. %n idea is distinct is it 5contains nothin# but thin#s which are themsel)es clear5. Descartes concludes that the truth that he has disco)ered, 57 thin6 therefore 7 am5 is clear and distinct because it is a self-e)ident truth. "e then concludes that all clear and distinct ideas are true. These ideas are selfe)ident necessary truths. Their truth is apprehended by 5rational intuition5 which is a 6ind of seein# with the mind. This is, of course, the way in which he is still in the %ristotelian tradition. "e now has a foundation and a way to )erify his results. "is ne;t step is to see how he can e;tend what he has #ot so far. "e 6nows that he e;ists and that his essential characteristic is thin6in#. 7t is possible that he e;ists without a body, but it5s not possible that he e;ists without thin6in#. (y thin6in#, he means any form of mental acti)ity, seein#, tastin#, feelin# pain, belie)in# that 2A2 B4 etc. :o when Descartes says thin6in# he means what me would call e;perience. %nythin# that is within our conscious mental acti)ity.