Descartes’ Discourse on the Method, Essay Example

Descartes starts the fourth part of the Meditations with a nihilistic metaphysical declaration: He will remove the epistemological foundation of all existing assumptions in order to understand the true nature of reality. As he advances through the Meditation, Descartes establishes foundational rational statements such as “I think therefore I am”- a statement that is evident due to the clearness and distinctiveness of the thought (Descartes, 1960).  Once his existence is established, Descartes moves to the next iteration of reasoning that ultimately leads to the surprise ending.  Although Descartes is able to understand why he exists, he is also able to posit other ideas such as perfection-where do these ideas come from?  If humans are able to conceptualize ideas of perfection (and the lack of perfection), surely there must be a being that encapsulates those qualities.  This being must be divine in nature: God.

Thus, the purported surprise ending of Meditation IV is that while Descartes started with radical doubt, even doubting his own existence, in the end he provides a rational proof for the existence of God. I take issue with the characterization that this is a “surprise ending.”  That is, through characterizing the conclusion as “surprising” it explicitly implies that another, perhaps more rational, ending would be naturally correct- while this one is not (Rye, 1984). Another way to interpret surprise (or deus ex machina) ending is: There was not ample reasoning to make the conclusion.   While one might not have expected Descartes to start with complete destruction and end with the existence of God, a close reading would not necessarily support that case.  Descartes , using rational methods and qualitative standards, is essentially building reality around him; he is not relying on empirical methods (such as Hume) to radically question  the existence of everything  Overall, I think Descartes does a reasonable job of making his case.  Some might strenuously disagree with the “clear and distinct standard” or even the leap of faith that because ideas of perfection enter his mind, there must be something that actually embodies them.  If this is the case, however, than one will also have to impugn Plato and his impact on the Western tradition (Nelson, 2005).

References

Descartes, R. (1960). Meditations on first philosophy.  New York: Prentice Hall

Hume, D.  (1999). An Inquiry Regarding Human Understanding.  London: Oxford.

Nelson, A.J. (2005).  A companion to rationalism.  London: Wiley-Blackwell

Rye, G. (1984). The Concept of Mind. Chicago: University of Chicago.