Philosophy has evolved since time immemorial. Different philosophers at different times come up with arguments and views that according to them, are supposed t form the back bone of human life. Their ideas always support or critic those philosophers who came before them. In the Case of Descartes and John Locke, theirs are views and arguments that came at the right time and shaped to some extent how people lived during and long after their existence (Cahn 16). Some of the views that they came up with are clearly and elaborately argued out in this essay.
Descartes in all his might tried to give philosophy a new and fresh direction. He chose to walk a path that no one before him had tried and that is why he chose to go against the grain and refuse to accept the Aristotelian and other scholastic traditions. His views sought to integrate new sciences and philosophy as well as incorporating it with theology and through this, the direction that philosophy took changed for good (Hatfield 28).
Some of his most outstanding philosophical concepts that he spearheaded revolved around a method called hyperbolic doubt which gave rise to an argument that talked of him doubting but not going to the extent of doubting that he exists (IEP pp 3). This together with other thoughts that he had harbored made him down play philosophies put forth by other philosophers before him. According to him, whatever that which is doubted should be rejected by all means and this leads to another argument which states that one should trust only that which is clearly seen as being beyond any doubt.
Descartes also chose not to believe in the obviousness of his senses raising claims that people should look beyond the simplicity of the very many layers of beliefs and opinions which are not supported by any ideology. According to him, the truth should be looked at just like it is without necessarily having to lace it with assumptions which will render it doubtful. In all these, the simple idea of doubt takes centre stage as it cannot be escaped because everything should be looked at from this angle. This simple and elaborate philosophical view makes Descartes the philosopher that he is celebrated to be.
Through this argument, people are not supposed to allow doubt to get into those things that are viewed by many as serious. Through his own actions and way of doing things, Descartes had a way of thinking that his mind was quite different from his body too. When it came to the existence of God, he said that comes from his thinking and never doubting that he existed or still exists. Through this, he argues that knowledge is possible when individuals give it a try and through scientific and mathematical thinking, people can understand the material world. His, is a factual kind of thinking and doing things. This philosophical view helps reconstruct knowledge that is based on his other view of doubt.
John Locke on the other hand spearheaded a very liberal and anti- authoritarian theory of the state (Anstey 23). His views also advocated for religious tolerance as well as the theories of knowledge and personal identity. This therefore means that is ideologies centered on how the commoners could be viewed from a different angle from what used to happen at the time. The state according to him was supposed to propel equality in all aspects such that everyone was to be viewed as an equal and important member of society. These philosophical views can therefore be said to centre on the importance of all men and that everyone deserved better treatment. No one was more important than the other.
It is from such a background that he raised a red flag on the authority that had been assumed by the kings. He was against their authority and therefore spearheaded the views that the divine right that had been accorded to the kings was not right because it was not supported by the scripture and reason. He saw nothing so important in the monarch and in the duty of people obeying the state; he was of the idea that people should be governed by natural laws. These are the laws that were for the idea of people having natural rights to their own persons and their labor.
Locke saw a possibility of people living without necessarily being under repressive laws and leadership (Thomas 43). He did not see the use of a government if people choose to live in their initial state of nature. The police too could not have any duties if this were the case. People could not be working so hard to amass wealth and own property under natural laws. The state could therefore not be in existence. According to him government authorities limit the powers of individuals in a society because through them, people are forced to get into social contracts which limit their way of doing things. Political obligations as well as the institution of private property sabotages free will, free thinking and personal space.
On knowledge, Locke was of the idea that it entails direct awareness of facts that are part of an agreement r disagreement among people’s ideas. Ideas according to his reasoning are mental objects and that at times, these mental objects are non mental objects and it is because of this, that people are knowledgeable about ideas that exist outside their minds (Rogers 88). Locke also believed that God gave man the abilities to obtain knowledge by not just believing what the authorities want people to believe or superstitious ideas because this at all is not knowledge. According to him, scientific reasoning is the ultimate because it helps a person formulate beliefs which in the long run turn out to be the knowledge that one occupies throughout life. According to him, the mind is blank at birth and as one grows the mind gain ideas from the environment and as time goes by, these ideas combine and form ideas. It is against this background that he believed that children should be helped to base the beliefs that they have against simple sounds, collect these sounds, get evidence for them and then believe the evidence which is strongest and not the weaker one.
These two philosophers had their own way of thinking and philosophies which they strongly believed to be very helpful to people as they reason out things and ideas. They choose to go against the grain and come up with ideologies which they strongly believed were the ultimate and that people should believe in. they provided arguments that when looked at critically, do make a lot of sense more so in terms of how people should live and do things. They centered much of their philosophical views and ideas on the self (Cahn 36).
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