Descartes Legacy

Descartes is quite oldand quite deadbut he continues to influence the Western

academic tradition in very profound ways. We can see him in nearly every
academic paper!*

*Note: Descartes was not the first (or only) person to question our senses and the
nature of reality. But he is sort of the mascot or flag-bearer of these ideas. We
will happily attribute those ideas to him for the sake of simplicity, even though we
recognize that he did not create Western academic philosophy entirely on his own.

First, considering that some might describe academic activities as a search for truth,
the dichotomy of true/false is relatively rare in academic writing. This is because
almost nothing is absolutely trueexcept, perhaps, our own existence. This stems
from Descartes famous conclusion Cogito ergo sum: I think, therefore I am.

From this position, we tend to doubt that anything is 100% true. The key
thing to repeat to yourself as you write your papers is I could be wrong.
Reflect this lack of absolute certainty in your writing:

1. Use modal verbs (may/might/could/should)

2. Use appearance phrases like (appears/seems/suggests)
3. Signal the subjectivity of your claims by using the 1 st person (In my
opinion, X is the case.)

Next, appreciate the eagerness of the academic community to seriously consider

your ideas and point out their flaws. This may appear to be mean-spirited (indeed,
some students seem to revel in this activity, perhaps as a way for them to feel
smarter or superior), but it should not be. Central to Descartes assertions were the
lack of intention behind errors in thinkingwe dont intend to make mistakes, but
we do. Therefore, we test our ideas publicly and actually invite criticism. It
makes our ideas stronger and strengthens the credibility of our academic
community. Therefore, you will notice that most writers include opposing, contrary
voices in their texts (although they usually do respond to those opponents rather
than let the audience decide for themselves).

Finally, recognize that the ownership of ideas is a useful construct because

those ideas are fallible. If an idea were perfect, it would need no ownerwe
wouldnt need to find the paper where it was first presented, respond to the author,
or trace its evolution. But because we regard every idea as fallible, a way of
keeping track is rather helpful. I would suggest that Descartes destruction of
absolute certainty made the ownership of ideas seem natural.
So why does this stuff matter? Besides the rule that we should never say that
anything is absolutely certain (besides report statements, although this would
probably annoy Descartes), you will find that professors highly value these
principles. They may not know exactly why they value them, and they may not
even know much about Descartes, but they will expect you to write and discuss
using the above rules. The fact that they are so basic makes them indispensible.