Impressions on Descartes Meditations - Essay Example

In the epistemological search for knowledge, Descarte starts with doubt, saying that he wants to discover if there is anything that is beyond doubt or indubitable. Using the subtle reasoning of metaphysics while investigating the nature of reality he doubts all things related to the senses and even mathematical facts. This leads to his derivation that if he doubts, that means that he is thinking, and if he is thinking, it follows logically that he must be or “must exist”, that is cogito ergo sum in Latin.

According to Gillespie (2006), the sequence of thoughts from which Descartes derives his first principle is in the form of a dialogue Descartes analyses that since thinking or cogito is clear and distinct, it follows that the concept has to be true. Hence, he states that his conceptualization of God as a perfect being can only arise from the fact that God is a perfect being, which in turn proves that God exists. This consequently leads to the conclusion that the world must exist, since God is not a deceiver, thus coming full circle from the philosopher’s initial doubt regarding the existence of the world and all things in it (Kenny 1968).

The conclusion is drawn by Descartes that the world must exist as a fact, the reality is based on establishing the existence of God. However, this is seen by SEP (2006) as a medieval reliance on a traditional distinction between the essence and existence of a thing. It is argued that the conceptualization of God as a perfect being only proves the essence of God and not His existence. Thus, the essence of something can be determined separately from a knowledge of its existence. On the same lines, this does not lead to proving the existence of the world.

The first meditation stating doubt regarding the existence of everything is beneficial in that it helps the reader to get rid of all prejudices. The validation of the existence of the self-based on cogito ergo sums leads to finding the difference between body and soul. The divisibility of the body and other material things make them different from the mind which cannot be divided, is indivisible. This establishes the difference between body and soul (Descartes 1951). Thus, based on divisibility, the material and non-material may be distinguished, although the existence of both has been established as a reality.

The inference was drawn by Descartes on God’s existence, though He is indivisible, and the subsequent analysis that leads to the existence of the world as reality are the two main objections one has to the philosopher’s argument put forth in his Meditations. A valid and logical derivation of the existence of the world is further required. ReferencesCohn-Sherbok, L. (1998). Who’s who in Christianity. New York: Routledge. Descartes, R. (1951). Meditations. The United States of America: Liberal Arts Press.

Gillespie, A. (2006). Descartes’ demon. Theory & Psychology, 16(6): 761-781. Kenny, A.J.P. (1968). Descartes: a study of his philosophy. Edition 3. New York: Random House Publications. SEP (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy). (2006). Descartes’ ontological argument. Retrieved on 4th July 2009 from: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/descartes-ontological/