Descartes

Descartes “Therefore, now that I have freed my mind from all cares, and I have secured for myself some leisurely and carefree time, I withdraw in solitude. I will in short, apply myself earnestly and openly to the general destruction of my former opinions.” (Rene Descartes, Meditation I) “Whatever I had admitted until now as most true I took in either from the senses or through the senses; however, I noticed that they sometimes deceived me. And it is a mark of prudence never to trust wholly in those things which have once deceived us.” (Rene Descartes, Meditation I) Descartes’ Mediations combined equal the embodiment of an effort to establish a foundation for knowledge. Each mediation serving almost as a mental/intellectual rung to achieve the heights of just how we as humans arrive at knowledge. A feat tackled by many a philosopher, Descartes’ method is one that begins with the practice of doubt, systematic doubt. Exemplified in the excerpts from the first meditation, Descartes’ cast himself and the reader into a role of the perplexed being. Perplexed, for all that was or is known may in fact be false if doubt is added into the equation. This descartes, senses, god, mind, meditation, knowledge, things, rene, being, doubt, one, himself, descartes’, deceive, able, thus, myself, must, fact, exist, evil, deceived, creator, body, without, wholly, trust, true, time, through, responsible, present, method, idea, however