Descartes Meditation 1 Summary

1. Method of Doubt
Throughout Meditation One in The Meditation of the First Philosophy, Descartes reflects on a number of falsehoods he has believed throughout his life. He does this to create a system in order to clarify whether they are true or false, so that he can build a basic structure from which future knowledge can be based. This approach is called Method of Doubt. Doubt is defined as a feeling of uncertainty. Descartes opens Mediation One by stating that if he wants to establish information that is firm and lasting in the sciences, he would have to begin from the earliest foundations from which his current knowledge has been built upon. He establishes that the task includes breaking down the components that make up his general knowledge.
Thus, they can be called into doubt. He is aware that if something deceives you at least one time, it will again, and therefore it cannot be trusted. This is evident when he states, “I have noticed that the senses are sometimes deceptive; and it is a mark of prudence never to place our complete trust in those who have deceived us even once” (14). This statement proves that Descartes believes that his senses’ reliability can be called into question. For example, he states that our senses are not always accurate when it comes to perceiving small and distant objects, because we may mistake a fly on the wall for a smudge if we do not look at it from a close enough distance. By doing this, Descartes discredits the first claim he makes, which says that you must believe what your senses tell you. Therefore, he has discovered that he cannot rely on his senses for his intended philosophical foundation upon which he wishes to build his
We might question the certitude of the Method of Doubt, but his arguments are accurate and conclusive, but he presents sufficient evidence to call his senses into doubt. I think that Descartes does indeed succeed in giving good reasons for doubting his senses. The sensory system cannot be fully relied on, because it is not a controlled variable, and therefore the accuracy can be questioned. This flaw is due to the fact that the sensory system can be influenced by internal and external factors. Descartes gives the reason that our senses are not reliable when it comes to far and distant objects is a good reason because it is self-explanatory in the sense that human eyesight is limited and therefore, our senses may confuse these objects. Therefore, we have proof that trusting our senses is not