Descartes believes that human beings have priori knowledge of the unreal proposition, which means that knowledge does not rely on sense experience. He argues that human beings achieve knowledge through knowing certain realities naturally, and also through a type of rational insight that allows humans to take hold of certain realities rationally. He also argues that the fake knowledge human beings achieve through reasoning or naturally cannot be achieved in any other manner. He starts by asking how he can be sure of anything. He then builds up all types of imaginative and strange reasons as to why he should doubt his senses.
The theory of Descartes concerning clear and different ideas is his account of rational perception. In this idea of rational perception, he argues out that human beings can identify the truth of an allegation by just thinking about it. He defends his first argument about the Cogito where he reaches the argument by pure reasoning. He argues out that even if there is a deceiver somewhere, the fact remains that he exists. He believes that he exists only as a thinking thing. He feels that human beings are supposed to recognize that the reasoning is true by just considering it. Descartes puts an effort in trying to describe what precisely this ‘I’ that exists is. The first explanation is a ‘man’ which he refers to as a ‘rational animal’. In order for him, to get the answer of what ‘I’ is, he thinks of everything that invaded his mind when he first thought of the question. He first thinks that he has a body. He characterizes ‘I’ as nourishment, motion, way of thinking and sensitivity. He points these to the soul and pictures this to be made of some vague such as wind or other that fill his body (Wilson 56).
Descartes continues with his arguments that he, as a mind, can be in existence without having a body. He wants to put it that it is possible for the minds to exist without involving the bodies. He goes on to find anything that he can know beyond his doubt regarding the knowledge of the world. Instead of looking into every item of belief, he goes on to the source of his doubts by explaining the basis of human’s ordinary beliefs. He states that these beliefs rely on the senses.
Descartes use several similar arguments concerning the reason human beings cannot trust the knowledge of the world. He looks in arguments such as the dream argument, the deceiving God as well as the evil demon arguments to emphasize on his doubt. The main thought in all of these arguments is to show that human beings never identify external objects directly, but it is only through whatever is in their minds as well as the figures the external objects create in them (Cottingham 38).
In the dream argument, Descartes argues out that dreaming and walking are almost the same thing and that the experiences that one go through during this time could be false delusions. He then says that those things that appear when he is dreaming do the same when he is also awake. This argument tries to show that there is no definite reason for being capable of differentiating between sleeping and waking. Although his current sensations may be images from a dream, he proposes that even images from a dream are drawn from waking incident, similarly to paintings in that respect. Descartes concludes, even though he can doubt complex things, he is not able to doubt the straightforward and common parts from which they are built such as shape, amount and size (Wilson 39).
He also explains that the soul is separate from the body in regard with the unreliability of the senses in comparison with pure reason. He believes that he is not perfect, however, his capability to imagine the perfection shows that something perfect must be in existence aside from him, and that was God. He thinks that all excellent things come from God. The moment he understands the reality concerning the souls and God he does not want to be familiar with dreams and imaginations. He believes it is not perfect to believe otherwise (Cottingham 40).
The thought of evil argument, the demon does not arouse the thoughts and use of power over people to accept the things that are not true. Instead, the evil demon is a device that is a way by which Descartes thinks all that he used to think true to be false. It leads him to all his doubts he has acceptably raised regarding those things he regularly held to the truth. The acknowledgment that the understanding that he had gained on false grounds is at best uncertain and leads him to make up his mind to overturn all those things that he once thought he knew. To achieve this, he states that it is not possible for him to demonstrate that all his previous beliefs are false.
Descartes believes that the evil demon talks to him directly with his mind that causes him to have all the sense and understandings he does even though there is no existence of the physical world. He believes that the world consists only of his mind and the mind of an evil demon lying to him. Descartes searches for the truth that could be something that he basically cannot doubt. With the evil demon assumption, he finds that it is not possible to believe almost everything that he receives from his senses (Wilson 46).
His arguments are all aimed at establishing the conclusion that people have a reason of doubting everything they believe. Every argument he gives becomes more effective than the previous one. He does not reject the senses but what he only says is that there is a purpose for him to doubt them. He does not give any reason of the truth, so it is not easy to come to a decision whether something is wrong or true. The fact that he was formed by a perfect God clearly proves that Descartes does not have casual background. There is no possibility of being deceived by a demon.
Descartes is wrong in his arguments concerning the fact that we cannot trust our knowledge of the world. It is because his arguments are only reasonable if he implies that the reality of the mind is well known than the reality of the body, but it appears that he wants to show that the existence of the mind is much better than the nature of the body. Descartes says that he very well knows that there is the existence of the mind, but he is familiar with the mind than he is with the world outside his mind.
Works Cited
Cottingham, John. Descartes. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998. Internet resource.
Wilson, Margaret D. Descartes. London: Routledge & K. Paul, 1978. Print.
