Rene Descartes Argument On The Power Of Knowledge

When I woke up I was very confused as to what was happening, where I was, and who I am. As I grasped an understanding of what Gandalf was saying, I realized that I had the power of knowledge to prove to Gandalf and Bilbo that I do exist, and that I am certain I know who I really am. Knowledge is possible because it is based on self-evident and absolutely certain principles. Sense experience cannot provide the certainty needed to guarantee that what we claim to know is true. Like Plato and Democritus argued, we are like mathematicians, we have to rely on reason as the basis for determining whether our opinions are justified true beliefs otherwise known as knowledge.
Plato has more of an idealistic viewpoint. He knows that the ascent to knowledge
Memory allows us to remember something that we knew in the past, even, if we no longer remember the original sense. It is transmitted from one individual to another, which brings about justification and truth that we do exist and know what we know. However, the idea of skepticism is an important aspect to remember as I show Gandalf that I know I exist. In Rene Descartes first meditation he claims, that the senses often deceive us and our perceptions can often be inaccurate. “But while my senses may deceive me about what is small or far away, these may still be other things that I take in by the senses but that I cannot possibly doubt-like that I am here, sitting before the fire, wearing a dressing gown, touching this paper.” Therefore I know that it is up to me to distinguish what I know is true and untrue, what is trustworthy and what is deceiving. I know I exist because I am able to reason and distinguish between pleasant and painful sensations. In Descartes meditations he illustrates theses sensations that I know I experience. “I sensed hunger, thirst, and other such desires-and also bodily inclinations towards cheerfulness, sadness, and other emotions. Outside me, I sensed, not just extension, shape, and motion, but also hardness, and other qualities detected by touch.” I am also able to reason that God exists. God is a perfect being and he would not allow us to be deceived. Knowledge based on the senses rests on the foundation of reason that allows us to believe that God exists and he would not allow us to be deceived because he gave me a clear and distinctive perception. I can also reason that my memory can dispel any doubt that I had because I know what I have experienced, if I were dreaming my memory would be disconnected and in random order, this would make it hard to remember many details about everything that has happened to