Explicate Descartes Dream Argument - Essay Example

In metaphysics, Rene Descartes proposed arguments for the existence of God showing the essence of matter and the extension of the mind. His major works include The Principles of Philosophy, Rules of Direction of the Mind, Treatise on Man, and Meditations on the First Philosophy among others.

In Descartes’ dream argument, he casts several doubts about the things he knew. First, he does not believe that all the information received by our senses is accurate. After his revelation, he undertook an intellectual rebirth. His first prompt was to throw away everything he knew and believed in before proving himself that they were satisfactory. He concluded that it would be difficult to analyze each idea individually, instead, he attacked the foundation. In his argument, he states that he often dreams of things that seem real in his sleep. In one dream where he sits by a fire, he can feel the warmth of the fire just like when he is awake. He concludes that if his senses can convey warmth while he is dreaming, then he cannot trust the fire exists when he feels it in his waking life. He goes ahead to argue that if we dream that our hands and bodies exist then they actually do. Even if certain objects do not exist, the basic colors that compose them exist. He trusts his perceptions of the existence of self-evident truths such as shapes and numbers because he believes in an omnipotent God who created these things.

Questions continue to flow in the human brain whether the knowledge we are gaining at any given time is true. He further states that he does not have a body, instead, it is a brain filled with information and illusions by a powerful being. Similarly, to justify that our senses deceive us, a person will have to recognize an error has occurred. In simple terms, one has to distinguish between being mistaken and being correct. It means one has to see the deceptions and avoid being deceived. Ironically, therefore, in the presentation of examples of how senses can deceive, one is also justifying that they can see through deceptions. This undercuts the very claim argued. Therefore, when Descartes argues that he is deceived by his senses, he is indirectly arguing that he has seen through these deceptions. From Descartes’ explanations we can state that the difference between understanding and imagining is that, when we understand, the mind turns towards itself and inspects its ideas, but with imagining, the mind creates something in the physical world that matches with the thing in mind. We can say that imagination only exists due to the presence of the body.

The thinker claims that it is impossible for us to tell whether we are dreaming or not. However, dreaming differs from being awake in many respects. He does not mean this literally though, he is merely trying to demonstrate that senses can be deceiving. First, the continuity available when one is awake does not exist in the dreamland. Things in the waking world remain the same daily, unlike the dream world where things can change. Similarly, the dream world and the waking world have different rules. For instance, in the dream world, the dead can walk and humans can fly among other strange things. As such, Descartes’ arguments do not warrant the amount and degree of skepticism that he holds.

Various key exceptions for Descartes’ arguments include, first, he does not consider even the existence of the external reality. Descartes’ claim is also unprecedented at least as Frans Burman made of their conversation in 1648. In the point that an omnipotent God has filled us with confusing knowledge, he is prone to error. There he was not as innovative as presumed since earlier thinkers had explored that premise. Similarly, one must dishonor claims to understanding or knowledge by demonstrating how they conflict with existing principles and views of knowledge.

Conclusion

Descartes considers the most remote possibilities of doubt, but it is difficult to attain a solid degree of doubt from his arguments. His skepticism undercuts itself in that, the doubt about possibilities such as being may undermine the greater doubt that should be generated by being. All the movements by the body as stated affect the functioning of the mind. However, Descartes’ arguments are calculated and well-driven but do not cast the required doubt.