An explanation and brief illustration of Descartes’ use of

scepticism in the ‘Meditations’

As the first architect of modern-day philosophy (Scruton, 1995), Descartes introduced

us to epistemological enquiry. He uses scepticism to question the accuracy of

perception in the hope of finding true certainties. By first establishing that there are

falsehoods in his current beliefs, he discredits them by doubting key principle

foundations; thereby destroying the entire system. He intends to rebuild, only using

truths that have survived all possible doubts. (Cottingham, 1996)

He first doubts his senses, as these can at times cause deceptions. For instance, the

sun appears immersed in the ocean at sunset. This doubt questions all knowledge

acquired through senses. His second doubts consider the act of dreaming. He claims

that sometimes when we are dreaming we are not able to recognise that we are not

awake, thereby concluding that we cannot be sure that we are currently in the real world

or just dreaming. Finally, to disprove confidence in even mathematics, Descartes,

suggest that there is an evil demon that is constantly deceiving us about the existence

of the physical world. Hence, the world may simply be delusions constructed by this

demon. (Cottingham, 1996)

Though the premise and assumptions for Descartes scepticism appears flawed, he only

seeks to assert that since the senses, dreams and the evil demon can cause deceptions
that we are unable to determine immediately, we should seek to rely on other

indubitable truths. Thus, Descartes method of doubt is necessary to discover accurate

perceptions of the universe.

Written by Nicanne Evans.

Bibliography

Cottingham, J. (1996) Descartes Meditations on First Philosophy:With Selections from

the Objections and Replies Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Scruton, R. (1995) A Short History or Modern Philosophy: From Descartes to

Wittgenstein. 2nd edition. London: Routledge.