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Descartes decided to find out more about the existence of the things he thought he knew. He found that all that he thought he knew came from his senses. In his quest, he developed doubts and more doubts about the things he knew and went deeper into finding the answers of whether the things he knew actually existed, (Descartes, & Cottingham, 2013). He concluded that nothing actually existed in the way he thought they did. He tries to learn new things but the things he thought he knew were hard to get rid of. He discovers that its id possible to doubt everything. Therefore, for him to find studier knowledge, he only needed to find the slightest reason to doubt what he knew. He concludes that sensory knowledge is sturdy except those based on distant objects. He then believes in his dreams which are based on real objects. He concludes that there is a demon that is evil and that deceives him. This assures him that god exists and that He cannot deceive him.
In the second meditation, he coins the cogito argument, (Suzuki, 2012). This arises as he proposes that for him to be able to think, he must exist. He does this by assuming that he lacks senses, body and feelings. He assumes that nothing exists. The only thing that makes sense is that he thinks. The only thing that seems to exist without doubt is the fact that he exist. This becomes the meditators first certainty. He develops the cogito ergo sum argument from this certainty. The philosophical idea of understanding one’s mind first comes from this argument. Therefore, one can understand reality by understanding how the mind interacts with the reality through thinking.
References:
Descartes, R., & Cottingham, J. (2013). René Descartes: Meditations on First Philosophy: With Selections from the Objections and Replies. Cambridge University Press.
Suzuki, F. (2012). The Cogito Proposition of Descartes and Characteristics of His Ego Theory.
