|
 Building
a home philosophy library
Lyn
May and Steve Deery
The
fourth in a series of articles advising on how to build your own
home philosophy library.
No.
4 Rene Descartes, Discourse on Method and the Meditations
We
all claim to know many things - 'the sun will rise tomorrow', 'all
flames are hot', maybe even, 'I am not a brain in a vat'. But what
grounds such statements, if indeed they can be grounded? And with
what degree of certainty, if any, can we claim to know such things?
This month's recommendation for your home library offers a possible
account for knowledge.
In
the Discourse on Method and the Meditations René
Descartes describes a method for reliably acquiring knowledge, and
also examines what we can know for certain. According to Descartes,
it is always possible for our senses to be deceived, so they cannot
be relied upon as a basis for knowledge. In the Meditations
his capacity to doubt is truly impressive - he even tries to doubt
his own existence. However, he cannot doubt that he is thinking,
which means he must be something rather than nothing. So, while
he might doubt the external world he has his first principle; one
thing of which he can be certain. This is encapsulated in one of
the best known philosophical quotes of all time - cogito ergo
sum (I think, therefore I am).
Unfortunately
nothing at all follows from knowing we are a thinking thing that
exists. This certainty needs supplementation if we are to have a
system of knowledge rather than an inventory reduced to one. Aware
of the problem, Descartes argues for the existence of God, since
with God's benign presence we can rely on our ability to reason
and, to a lesser extent, the evidence of our senses.
Whilst
many find Descartes arguments for the existence of God unconvincing,
the Discourse is still important. It inaugurates modern philosophy
by making questions about knowledge preeminent.
Discourse
on Method and the Meditations by Rene Descartes (Penguin) £6.99/$7.95
A
new book will be featured from March 1st 2001.
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