Descartes - dissertation example

Descartes

Descartes The ideas that Rene Descartes propounds in his Meditations have influenced philosophers and in future ages to a great extent. Histheories regarding the position of man in the universe in relation to other human beings and to God are something that was revolutionary for his times, in the field of philosophy, to which his contributions are seminal. Descartes held that an idea is something that is the beginning of one’s philosophical meditations and one’s quest for truth. Descartes sought to find a set of maxims that he would be able to call truths without being doubtful about them. As opposed to the philosophers who preceded him, like the Greeks, Aristotle and Plato, and the later philosophers, he did not believe in the theory that observation of empirical phenomena would be useful in the understanding of the world and in the accumulation of the truths that he was searching for. Since what one saw in the world was deceptive, theories that one would create on the basis of the observation of the world would also be deceptive, was what Descartes thought. This, he related to the existence of man itself. This is expressed in his famous quote, “ I think, therefore I am” (Rene). This theory of Descartes has been thought to encourage a detachment from the universe. This was said to involve a lack of knowledge regarding the world and what it had in store for one. However, Descartes’ theory is one that originates not from an ignorance regarding the universe but from a knowledge of it which results in a knowledge of its deceitful nature of being. This led him to believe in the ideas of his mind that he felt, were more reliable for himself as a person. Works Cited Rene Descartes: ‘I think therefore I am’. Web. http://www. publicbookshelf. com/public_html/Outline_of_Great_Books_Volume_I/ithinkth_bga . html Accessed on 23rd, June, 2011. Descartes, Rene. Meditations. Tr. Veitch, John. New York: Cosimo Books, 2008. Print.