Descarte’s Discourse on the Method’s Surprise Ending, Essay Example

The Discourse on the Method is known as one the most influential writings and is also suggested to be the beginning of modern philosophy. The reading begins with Descartes reasoning through doubting everything in order to obtain a clear perspective. For instance, he comprised one of the most famous quotes of all time, “I think, therefore I am”. (Descartes, 2007) In addition, he writes about proof of the existence of God. He then goes to talk about science and scientific methods. Descartes writes about how he developed scientific principles and methods that allowed him to make tremendous discoveries. The surprise ending to this reading is that there were no clear methods described for his scientific principles. Even more surprising is that he writes about how he was going publish these scientific works in a different book, but due to the reaction of the society, he did not.

Descartes describes somewhat how he learned of Galileo’s condemnation for his scientific discoveries and he was afraid of the same condemnation for his own work. To me, this is surprising as the entire point of a scientist is to discover something new and exciting and then offer it to the world. Descartes did the opposite. He held his ideas and discoveries to himself. He would rather have been free of any sort of controversy or condemnation than to show the world what he has discovered. At the same time, he is convincing in the way he approached his work. You start to understand his philosophical way of approaching the situation. He writes about how he doesn’t want to give more details about his scientific progress, but ensures the readers that he is in fact working on them. He notes that he would rather spend his time acquiring the information rather than spending the time justifying it. The reader can then understand his logic. This was back in the in 17^th century where the legal system was harsh and the findings of anything having to do with science or religion was controversial. Science was not something that people understood, they would even consider it magic; therefore, maybe Descartes was smart to hold off of his discoveries and leave them for a time where people would have a better understanding of science.

References

Descartes, R. 2007. Discourse on the Method of Rightly Conducting one’s Reason and Seeking.

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