Rene Descartes, Essay Example

Rene Descartes and the Argument of Existence

Rene Descartes, a respected philosopher of his time, was notably known for his idealisms and arguments about the reality of existence. The arguments he presented were mind boggling at the time; nevertheless, they were all necessary to help in the establishment of good understanding on the part of the people who were existing around him. Considerably, these arguments raised questions and queries that were strong enough to establish a good sense of indication on how life in itself could have a purpose as well as to how life could be given more meaning. The value of existence, according to his argumentation, is necessary to be realized fully for one to gain the purpose he hopes to live his life with.

Along with the distinction of utilizing the argument of existence to define life’s most important purpose, it could also be noted how he also focused on wisdom and how it is developed. Wisdom, for Descartes, is a product of good reasoning that comes from the idea of knowing that one exists. It could not be denied that also a part of Descartes’ philosophy is the emergence of the concept of good and bad; the definite patter of forces that exist to mandate a course of change in an individual depending on how he would be able to face the different challenges and changes that are occurring in his life. Both the idea of knowing and the development of wisdom go hand in hand, and somehow, it is through the establishment of this thought that the emergence of life’s purpose comes into a determinable foundation.

Through his first and second meditations, Descartes provided a concrete presentation of his ideas. He did so to establish a point of common ground that determines the distinction between existentialism and realism; which are both considered as elements of development that are determined to make a distinct insistence of what the purpose of life should be grounded upon. In the discussion that follows, presenting philosophical reasoning and support to the ideas of Descartes and how well it is able to identify the truth behind every single course of development in relation to an individual’s desire to know his personal purpose in living.

Agreeing to his thoughts of existentialism, it could be noted that his base thoughts on cause and effect are valid enough to provide a concrete representation of how strong his ideas were in representing the real value of life-based theory that he [as well as his readers/or audience] are able to understand and relate to. For instance, one of the most concrete ways of identifying the existence of a person [in his case, his own self] through the insistence of how the good and bad forces are able to direct a person’s thinking and actions, is that of the establishment of the Evil Demon Theory. This theory accounts for the existence of an inner evil in every person and how the conscious mind is able to control such persona. This theory makes an indicative option of determining the course of development that every person intends to embrace.

To note ,Descartes begins with his First Meditation by undermining all of the true beliefs he has and casts them aside to start over. He first questions his senses and how can he be absolutely certain of his own existence when his senses are questionable. He states, “all that up to the present time I have accepted as most true and certain I have learned either from the senses or through the senses; but it is sometimes proved to me that these senses are deceptive, and it is wiser not to trust entirely to anything by which we have once been derived.” For instance, he wonders why he exists when his senses are questionable. He believed that his senses have tricked him during several instance,  [for example, how does the eye perceive humans to be small when they are standing at a distance, when in fact this is not true?]. This point of perspective for Descartes is already a form of mind-deception.  Descartes wants to find certainty in order to eliminate the methodic doubt on the nature of reality. For instance, he claims to believe in anything that has justification which insists that human beings cannot appeal anything they cannot conceive. In addition, we judge a situation using methods that guarantee certainty of ideas.

Furthermore, Descartes makes a discovery that the only time a person’s senses are optimal is when one is dreaming. Descartes says that in a dream, things tend to be very vivid and realistic.  There are very lucid dreams where it feels very much like reality. However, through math and reasoning “two and three together always form five and the square can never have more than four sides, and it does not seem possible that truths so clear and apparent can be suspected of any uncertainty.” Descartes, in this quote means that although there can be very real and vivid dreams it can be safe to assume that they may be baseless, having nothing in relation to reality especially that the mind’s logical function does not fully operate while one is at rest and practically unconscious. Along with this, he brings forth another skeptical view and asks how he can really be certain that the answers of any math problems or logic are true.  Based on evil demons and second meditation, Descartes acknowledges the role of evil demons in human beings. They present an illusion of the real world to drive a human being into getting involved in a situation. They are cunning and deceitful in order to trap all bodily sensations since they lack the bodily features.

Practically, people during the time of Descartes were not as much convinced as he was with his ideas on such point of existence. Most philosophers of his time do not support the thought that the existence of a person should be accounted based upon the existence of another, or the emergent power that a specific force have on the person. Relatively, as Descartes’ explanation points out, the thought over the unseen force need not be an existing persona, but the mere fact that it affects the thinking and actions of another means that it has a great effect on the individual as he deals with the everyday challenges that life offers him. In short, these forces intend to grant him of the knowledge he needs to embrace a better and purposeful pattern of living.

To expand on the idea, the theory of the Evil Demon shall be further responded to. Found in his first meditations, Descartes dealt with the notion of the existence of such matter through pointing out that the thought of having an evil personal control one’s mind is already a challenge to an individual. Relatively though, there is the conscience, the active counter part of the Evil Demon that responds accordingly to the demands of the one that is wicked. Laying more towards the emergence of evil thoughts, humans have a natural inkling towards doing the wrong thing simply because it seems to be the easier option [if not thrilling in some cases].

Clearly, through research and studies performed through time, it has been analyzed that Descartes was primarily interested in inexistent forces such as evil. This could be noted through the fact that he asks that perhaps there might be a being powerful enough to deceive him. Perhaps it is God? No, Descartes says it can’t be because God is supposedly all good, and is incapable of deceiving him. It could be a being that is powerful enough and wicked enough to manipulate him about everything, even logic and math. Descartes believed that mathematics was the foundation of all beings. Conversely, he recognizes there are other powerful beings that can fool him, for instance, the existence of God. He also doubts the above assumption since he believed that all God’s works are supposedly all good. Based on the mathematical hypothesis that 2 + 3 = 5, he argues that God cannot lie, but, on the other side, demons are extremely cunning and deceptive.

True, at this point, Descartes is already trying to convince the public about the emergence of an unseen force that is able to counteract the effects and influence of the evil one. God, the supposed counterpart of evilness, is used by Descartes as the seemingly driving force that instantiates a sense of control in a person as he faces the challenges of engaging in evil works. How does one react to the evil force? At this point of his work, Descartes’ argument proves that nothing is absolute certain. This evil demon is so powerful that literally everything can be false. But Descartes realizes one very important detail that he writes about in Meditation ii; that he is a thinking thing. The evil demon cannot possibly be tricking him into thinking that he is a thinking being because he is actually doing it right now. Descartes argument of existence is based on three factors: “I think,” “If I think, I exist,” and “Hence I exist.” With the above three factors, Descartes is certain that he exists. He also states that the fact that he has a face, arms, hands, and the rest of the body organs is a proof that he exists. As such, human beings have memories that attribute certain occurrences and events to specific feelings. Thus, he states “but what then am i? A thing which thinks. What is a thing which thinks? It is a thing which doubts, understands, affirms, denies, wills, refuses, which also imagines and feels.” And so, since he is doing all of this then he can be certain that he exists.

The mere thought of existing has become practically problematic to members of the society in the past. Nevertheless, through the distinct description of Descartes on the difference and insistence of what influence and response are all about, he is able to establish that as people are able to decide on how matters are supposed to go in their lives, they are also able to note the fact that they are to be affected fully by the elements surrounding them both within the internal and the external course of connections they have.

In closure, I do believe that one thing that we can be certain of our own existence because we are thinking beings. The evil cannot make a person think that he/she is a thinking being when a person is not evil is termed as omnipotent and, as such, unable to alter mathematics as well as fundamentals of existence. Descartes was unable to determine whether a person in deep sleep can be classified as being since he/she lacks the thinking capacity. At such moments, consequently, the evil being cannot act on a human being and make him/her think is thinking being. Through our minds, we are capable of persuading, judging , and experiencing emotions. Those are perfect indicators for our existence. As based from Descartes’ arguments, humans tend to depend more on their thinking process and at times sets their physical capacities aside. There are instances when some individuals lose track on how to use both elements in making decisions and facing life accordingly. Nevertheless, as Descartes himself insisted in his first meditation, the mind is more powerful than the physical body, because from it comes the directive on how one should react. Hence, in doing something wrong or evil, there is no way that the person would be able to put fingers on another, because basically, his actions were primarily affected by the way he thinks, and as he does, such action shall be able to control the works of the physical body, a matter that distinctively separates the mind from the body and makes an insistent decision on how these elements could go well together to define the purpose of an individual as he takes on either the good or the bad side of the situation.