Comparing Descartes And Meditations On First Philosophy By David Hume

Can our perception of reality be trusted? Reality and the importance of our sensory apparatuses are analyzed by two famous philosophers Descartes and Hume. Descartes’s “Meditations on First Philosophy” and Hume’s “Treatise of Human Nature” focus on the reliability of their overall search for knowledge based off of their experiences. On one hand, French philosopher, Rene Descartes, fails to trust the reliability of his senses due to his belief that an outside force could be manipulating his perception of the world. In Philosopher David Hume’s “Treatise of Human Nature”, the foundation of knowledge stems from trusting one’s senses. Hume states that all perceptions can be divided between impressions and ideas. Impressions are immediate and “comprehend all sensations, passions, and emotions as they make their first appearance in the soul” (Hume, 1).
Ideas are simply something one can imagine, the ability to create a mental picture. In continuation, Hume’s view relies on the information derived from the senses to be true, otherwise, his philosophy would crumble. Ultimately, Hume prioritizes the senses as the ability to form impressions that act as the building blocks of our individual experiences and influence our decision making. Descartes counteracts this claim by acknowledging that almost everything, (but our existence) can be doubted due to the possibility that our senses can be manipulated by an evil doer or larger power. Therefore, the ability to remain confident in the reliability of the information is harmonious with one’s individual experiences to ultimately, obtain and continue one’s quest for