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Descartes method and meditations

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Descartes tells us that, in order to see what is real, we must first doubt all we know with our senses. Our senses can deceive us. Are we dreaming? Are we being manipulated by an evil genius??Is Descartes' argument against trusting the senses a good one? What appeals to you most, and what do you find odd?

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Solution Summary

Rene Descartes (1596-1650) One of the most well known philosophers and the most famous French philosopher. Everyone has heard his phrase "I think, therefore, I am". Descartes chief works include; Discourse on the method of Rightly Conducting the Reason and Seeking the Truth in the Sciences, Rules for the Direction of the Mind, Meditations of First Philosophy, Principles of Philosophy and The Passions of the Soul.

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Rene Descartes (1596-1650) One of the most well known philosophers and the most famous French philosopher. Everyone has heard his phrase "I think, therefore, I am". Descartes chief works include; Discourse on the method of Rightly Conducting the Reason and Seeking the Truth in the Sciences, Rules for the Direction of the Mind, Meditations of First Philosophy, Principles of Philosophy and The Passions of the Soul.

Descartes on Method
If good sense (common sense) is humankind's most equitably divided endowment, then why are there enormous differences between humans with regard to how much they have discovered?
Descartes says that different humans use their reason in different ways and therefore the important questions becomes; what is the correct way to use one's reason? Or which is the right method for using one's reason?

Mathematics as the model for Descartes' method- Four rules
1. Never to accept anything as true unless I recognize it to be evidently such
2. divide each of the difficulties which I encountered into as many parts as possible
3. think in and orderly fashion, beginning with the things which were the simpliest and easiest to understand and gradually and by degree reaching toward more complex knowledge.
4. make enumerations as complete, and reviews ...

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