How are Cartesian foundationalism and dualism found in Descartes’ Mediations?
Central to Descartes’ philosophy is the establishment of the philosophical view of foundationalism and dualism. Foundationalism is based on the philosophy that in investigating any ideas or thoughts, one has to go back to the fundamental principles. Descartes believe that in order to test the validity of ideas, one has to start from scratch and work his way up. As stated in Descartes in his ‘Meditations’, “And thus I realized that once in my life I had to raze everything to the ground and begin again from the original foundations, if I wanted to establish anything firm and lasting in the sciences”. Descartes’ foundationalism earned him a reputation of being a skeptic. For him, any idea or theory that has the slightest doubt must be false, and anything that causes a person to make an erroneous judgment could not be trusted. This idea led him to think that a person should not trust his senses to make deductions or to decide that something is true or false. Rather, everything must be thought of carefully with reason and logic. Accordingly, a man’s senses can sometimes deceive him and “it is a mark of prudence never to place our complete trust in those who have deceived us even once”. Dualism, on the other hand, is the belief that the human mind is, in essence, separate from the body. Descartes contemplates of being able to exist without a body; that perhaps something is deceiving him to believe that he possess a physical form when in fact, he does not have one. This line of thought was apparent when he said that, “Am I so tied to a body and to the senses that I cannot exist without them?”. Descartes’ skepticism is still at work on his philosophical deductions on dualism since he too is not sure of whether his body does exists although he is sure that he does exists because he thinks. As he himself said, “Thus, after everything has been most carefully weighed, it must finally be established that this pronouncement "I am, I exist" is necessarily true every time I utter it or conceive it in my mind”.
Evaluate the impact of the Cartesian worldview. What are the positive and negative implications of Cartesian foundationalism and dualism? What influence do these have on our 21st century world—on our science, our psychology, our religions, our relationship to our environment, and our culture?
It could not be denied that the Cartesian view has profound impact to almost all philosophical and scientific views of the modern world. For his profound contribution, Descartes is considered as the father of modern philosophy. Descartes’ foundationalism strongly influences the line of thought of modern science. His foundationalism view encourages individuals to look into things and his environment with skepticism, never believing first hand unless proven through reason and logic. In physical sciences and mathematics, for example, investigation starting from scratch is considered as the acceptable scientific approach. Among those who are largely influenced by Descartes’ foundationalism views are theoretical physicists and mathematicians who believe that the universe is held strongly by physical laws; that these laws are not just random occurrences but rather a result of fundamental principles that govern all things. It is also quite obvious how Descartes’ dualism may have laid the foundation of modern psychology. Psychological theories may have emerged out of the belief that the physical development is distinct from the mental development of a person. For the same reason, psychiatrists and those that are involved in similar disciplines are considerably influenced by dualism wherein the mind is perceived as a separate entity from the body and is treated separately through non-physical means. On how religion is influenced by dualism is apparent on how Descartes discusses the relationship between the body and the mind being a distinct creation of God. In a religious context, it can be argued that Descartes’ philosophy aims to establish the authenticity of Christian faith by discussing the separate attributes of the body and the person’s thought or his thinking self. Accordingly, “One motivation for this distinction is an interest in the Christian doctrine of immortality” which is profound in the Christian doctrine. The Cartesian view has also found its way on pop-culture. Observers believe that the famous film Matrix, starred by Keanu Reeves was a depiction of the paradox about the illusion created by the mind or something that deceives the mind to believe that the physical world that people lives are real when in fact it is not.
The foundationalism view, in general, provides guidance on how to obtain a strong foundation of knowledge. In physical sciences, it is empirical that all knowledge should be based on strong foundation or else, any advancement based on weak foundation would eventually crumble. On the other hand, Descartes’ skeptical view on things challenges long-held traditions and beliefs. In some instances, skepticism can become a barrier for getting things done since it requires individuals to get to the bottom of things before any action is made. In this line of thought, skepticism will not work when crucial decision making is needed. Dualism, on the other hand, still remains a philosophical problem that has not yet been fully resolved yet it has a strong influence in the medical field that may pose serious consequence to the ethical standards of the medical profession. As strong as the Cartesian philosophies may seem, there is still a limit to what man’s mind can achieve as well as the limiting constraints of his short life. In fact, Descartes himself was not able to resolve most of his self-queries and have left them for future generations to contemplate.
References
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