¶ … Skepticism in Philosophy: Descartes, Chisholm, and Moore's Proof of an External World
Skepticism is a basic part of the Western philosophical tradition. It posits, at its simplest level, that human beings can never arrive at any certain knowledge about the world nor can objective truth ever be ascertained (Hooker, par. 1). While skepticism has a long history in Western civilization, its development took a crucial turn when Rene Descartes turned himself to the question of how we can know anything. Modern skepticism is a derivation of Descartes' examination of the nature of knowledge and man's relationship to it. However, Descartes has not been accepted without question. There are many philosophers who refuse to accept the basic tenets of skepticism, including the inability for anyone to possess objective knowledge of the external world. The skeptics claim that we know significantly less about the world than we presume to know (Steup par. 1). Notable among Descartes' detractors is the 20th century philosopher Roderick Chisholm who saw this issue as fundamental to any philosophical discussion (Faber par. 2). Chisholm developed his own counterargument to the Cartesian system. However, examined with a harsh, critical eye, it becomes evident that Chisholm's argument is ultimately flawed. Rene Descartes qualified the importance of skepticism to Western civilization; Chisholm's attempts to undermine that centrality have thus far proven ineffective.
In the era of the Enlightenment, Rene Descartes set out to reinvent the whole of Western epistemology. He began simply by questioning the very basis of all philosophical thought -- whether or not it is possible to actually know anything. His intent was to question whether or not it is possible to know anything, if truth can somehow exist external to the individual mind (Hooker par. 9). This is not as simple a query as one might assume. For those uninitiated in philosophical thought, it probably seems obvious that human beings can possess objective knowledge about the world. After all, we know that the sky is blue. We know that wood is hard. We even know that water is a molecule composed of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. But Descartes challenged all of this. He wondered to himself how we know that we know these things. What if the whole of the external world was an illusion? How would any of us presume to know the difference? Descartes recognized that human perceptions were not the most useful means for deducing the nature of the world. Senses can lie or be distorted. Memories will fade. It must have seemed to Descartes that all of human experience was designed to facilitate doubt in the veracity of the external world. After some deliberation, Descartes realized that the fact that he could doubt the world proved at least one thing: that is, that he himself was real or, as he phrased it, cogito ergo sum. This was the basic proposition upon which Descartes was able to formulate other true statements (Hooker par. 9).
Descartes laid the foundation for the Cartesian method of systemic doubt. While not generally characterized in these terms, it is nonetheless the basis for all scientific examination and thought. The system of thought that Descartes formulated was based on the exacting rigor of the question. Descartes recognized that we must continuously question all propositions. Skepticism, accordingly, demands that the individual be willing to doubt the whole of the external world around him or her. Propositions are tested then retested until one can arrive at a relatively true conclusion...
The fifth chapter turns from metaphysics to physics and applies his universal laws to scientific pursuits. The fifth chapter offers the reader one of the most challenging of applications, the superiority of man over beast, as the beast contains no soul, no reason and no thinking mind, and according to Descarts this is easily assumed because animals do not talk, therefore they do not reason and have no mind separate
However, there are numerous beliefs that his argument leaves unchallenged. When we dream, although the particular beliefs we form ("I am falling from an airplane.") are often false, the materials for our dream (airplanes, physical objects) come from things we experience when waking, and we can still rest assured that some of these things exist. Therefore, the dreaming argument leaves unchallenged our belief in general truths about the world
Descartes viewed that the whole of human knowledge was a tree, with each part relying on the others for the purposes of functioning - and, in a philosophical sense, validity. The tree's trunk was comparable to physics. The branches Descartes considered to be the applied sciences of morals, medicine, and mechanic. The roots of the tree provided support and nourishment to the whole of the system; these roots, Descartes
Magnitude or extension in length, breadth, or depth, I do so perceive; I have before remarked that it is only in judgments that falsity, properly speaking, or formal falsity, can be met with, a certain material falsity may nevertheless be found in ideas, i.e. when these ideas represent what is nothing as though it were something."(Descartes) On the contrary, through judgment or reason the material can be very well apprehended.
Rene Descartes: Why Psychology Cannot be a Science Like Physics The philosophies and concepts presented in Rene Descartes' Meditations on First Philosophy illustrate several reasons why psychology cannot be a science like physics. These concepts include that truths are based on clear and distinct ideas, that the mind is not an object but a separate entity, that human psychology is a product of a reflex action between the mind and the
This phrase talks about the first bit of knowledge in Descartes' philosophy, i.e. The existence of thinking self. This is "... The clearest, and best known substance for him [thinking individual]. Upon this foundation, Descartes builds all his other knowledge claims" (Hauptli, 2008, Chapter 27). The formulation argues that one's existence is deemed true the moment one raises its existence or this existence is conceived in human mind (Descartes
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