Proof of God in The Method by Rene Descartes - Book Report/Review Example

RENE DESCARTES' THE METHOD Introduction Rene Descartes wrote The Method during the so-called age of reason, or the enlightenment, an intellectual movement in the 18th century. The Method was originally titled "Discourse on the Method of Rightly Conducting the Reason in the Search for Truth in the Sciences (French title: Discours de la mthode pour bien conduire sa raison, et chercher la verit dans les sciences). It is one of the most influential works in the history of modern natural sciences. At first, he opted not to publish it during its time when controversies continued to dominate French and European societies, as to its being culturally radical. But what was radical in Descartes' reasoning Four years earlier, before Descartes wrote and tried to publish The Method, Galileo was tried (persecuted) by the so-called Inquisition of the Catholic Church for his treatise on the solar system and the planetary movement, and was forced to retract all of his assumptions and theories. Galileo was teaching Copernicanism, and Descartes' book was Copernican in nature. It was one of the reasons why Descartes tried not to publish this treatise on reasoning, so as not to suffer the same fate as Galileo's. Nevertheless, the controversy and the many interpretations forced Descartes to make the move - let the world know of what should reason be all about. Descartes' Reason Descartes explains reason or reasoning as an application of what one thinks, or that which comes of his intellect or mind. It is not only important that you have a "rigorous" mind, Descartes argues, but that you know how to apply it in everyday life. Most thinking of today is influenced by Descartes' way of reasoning. Descartes deals on metaphysics, but also on the scientific way. The Method is divided into six parts, as follows: first touching the topic on the Sciences; in the second, the rules of the Method; the third, certain of the rules of Morals which he has deduced from this Method; in the fourth, the reasonings by which he establishes the existence of God and of the Human Soul; in the fifth, the order of the Physical questions which he has investigated, and in the last what Descartes believes to be required in order to have greater advancement in the investigation of Nature, or the experiments. Each of the chapters in The Method, relies on the reasonings, and so explained by the Author with logic and proofs prevalent in his times of reasoned thinking. Philosophers and thinkers dominated this era of world history. They wanted to dominate the world through reason, so that almost every aspect of man's endeavor at that time was influenced by it. The time is known as the age of enlightenment which refers to the enlightenment of the eighteenth century, down to 17th century, in European and American philosophy. It advocates reason as a means to establishing an authoritative system of aesthetics, ethics, government, and logic. Thinkers argued that some kind of systematic thinking as the Newtonian kinematics could be applied to all forms of human activity. This influenced almost every major activity or movement all throughout Europe and other areas of the world including the United States. It was during this time when the solar system was truly discovered. Descartes' theory or concept on skepticism and inquiry into the nature of "knowledge" was a 'product' of the enlightenment. Main target of the thinkers of the movement was religion, particularly the Catholic Church. In turn they were regarded as radicals. There were opposing thinkers however, and one of them was Edmund Burke who is known as the father of modern conservatism. Burke opposed the implementation of governing based on abstract ideas. He espoused liberal conservatism, supported organic reform, and openly attacked metaphysics. Descartes published a short work which was metaphysical rather than scientific. The Discourse on Method is best known as the source of the famous quotation "cogito ergo sum", "I think, therefore I am." In the first chapter, Descartes says: "For to be possessed of a vigorous mind is not enough; the prime requisite is rightly to apply it." Everyone can use his right reason, or can think correctly. All human beings can have this power, and no one must be in a hurry, one must just do the right way. All men are equal in the process of reasoning. Not only the learned or those who have gone to higher schools of learning are able to do reasoning, but everyone can start and find the truth by himself. In other words, Descartes states that truth is not enforced, or that which comes from an authority, like the Church or government (the reason why he was a radical). Truth can be found from one's self through reasoning. The Four Precepts which characterized The Method itself (in his own words) are: 1. "The first was never to accept anything for true which I did not clearly know to be such; that is to say, carefully to avoid precipitancy and prejudice, and to comprise nothing more in my judgment than what was presented to my mind so clearly and distinctly as to exclude all ground of doubt. 2. The second, to divide each of the difficulties under examination into as many parts as possible, and as might be necessary for its adequate solution. 3. The third, to conduct my thoughts in such order that, by commencing with objects the simplest and easiest to know, I might ascend by little and little, and, as it were, step by step, to the knowledge of the more complex; assigning in thought a certain order even to those objects which in their own nature do not stand in a relation of antecedence and sequence. 4. And the last, in every case to make enumerations so complete, and reviews so general, that I might be assured that nothing was omitted." The four precepts can be explained in these words: filter away all that may be in doubt; divide difficulties to as small pieces as necessary; start with the simplest problems; and, make lists, tables, diagrams. Descartes suggests methods for the simplification of reason, step by step, until one is able to reach a conclusion. It is systematized reasoning still observed until this present age of the internet and high technology. The most important was the first precept, which states, in Descartes' words, to "never to accept anything for true which I did not clearly know to be such". He suggests to "start finding truth by yourself, doubt that which you haven't accepted as truth, clear all things not true according to your own reason." This is skepticism, but a new kind of skepticism, the purpose of which is to come out to the truth, or to filter the truth. Descartes' reasoning is the scientific method that we do today. This new idea of skepticism influenced many to start finding out things for themselves rather than relying solely on authority. The idea as such may have been the starting point for the development of modern science. He further states: "all things, to the knowledge of which man is competent, are mutually connected in the same way, and that there is nothing so far removed from us as to be beyond our reach, or so hidden that we can not discover it, provided only we abstain from accepting the false for the true, and always preserve in our thoughts the order necessary for the deduction of one truth from another." A systematic deduction of the problem can lead us to the truth, he says. We can reach the conclusion by ourselves in our everyday life, and this is addressed not only to the schooled or the scholars, but also to the ordinary people out there in the streets, who know how to think, Descartes reasoned out. In the third chapter, he proposed to adopt the three maxims so that one could effectively function in the "real world" while experimenting with the method of radical doubt (in the original first person): 1. Obey the laws and customs of my country and religion; 2. Be as firm and resolute in my actions as I was able 3. Endeavor always to conquer myself rather than fortune, and change my desires rather than the order of the world, and in general, accustom myself to the persuasion that, except our own thoughts, there is nothing absolutely in our power; so that when we have done our best in things external to us, all wherein we fail of success is to be held, as regards us, absolutely impossible. They formed a rudimentary belief system from which to act before he developed a new system based on the truths he discovered using his method. Descartes uses the analogy of tearing down the house to its foundation in order to build a secure edifice (he even extends the analogy to move next door into a house of morality, while his own house is being rebuilt). Proof of God and the Soul Descartes asserts that God is based on reason and so the method on doubt can not be based on it. He challenges his own reasoning and reason itself. Descartes supplies three proofs on the existence of God including what is now referred to as the ontological proof of the existence of God. Descartes detailed in The Method the three phenomenon: Physics, the Heart, the Soul of Man and animals. He also supported this in other writings the topics or idea on the laws of nature, of the sun and the stars, the idea of the moon being the cause of ebb and flood, on gravitation, light and fire, and medicine. He also enumerated the many functions of the heart and the different arteries and veins in the heart, citing this as proof of the soul and the existence of a Supreme Being. He describes that these motions seem to be totally independent of what we think, and concludes our bodies are separate from the soul. Descartes' view on the existence of God is also reinforced by some of the enlightenment writings: that the orderliness of the cosmos is proof of the existence of God. It was proof of the power of God, the power of monarchy, who ruled the universe through natural laws he enacted. In the article "The Enlightenment", it acknowledged that Rene Descartes attempted to use reason to shore up his faith, trying to begin with a blank slate, with the bare minimum of knowledge: the knowledge of his own existence - I think therefore I am. He attempted to reason his way to a complete defense of Christianity, but to do so he committed so many logical faults that his successors over the centuries were to slowly disintegrate his gains. As a whole, Rene Descartes' thinking and reasonings are all found and a part of our philosophies and thinking in the age of the internet. References 1. Rene Descartes: Discourse on the Method of Rightly Conducting the Reason, and Seeking Truth in the Sciences. http://www.literature.org/authors/descartes-rene/reason-discourse/. Retrieved 2007-02-02. 2. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia website. Discourse on The Method. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discourse_on_the_Method. Retrieved 2007-02-02. 3. Brian, Paul Homepage. Article The Enlightenment. March 11, 1998.http:wsu.edu/brains/hum_303/enlightenment. Retrieved 2007-02-02. Read More