In this video we are going to be talking about René Descartes

But who is Descartes?

Descartes was a 17 century French philosopher

Who is considered to be the father of modern philosophy

And is famous for his quote

Cogito ergo sum (Latin)

I think therefore I am

But why did Descartes say this in the first place?

Was he just stating the obvious?

Does this saying have some deeper meaning?

Was he the first frenchmen to realise that he was thinking?

To find the answer to these questions we

First have to take a look at something called Global Scepticism

Global Scepticism is the idea that all beliefs can be doubted

this even includes beliefs which to many of us would seem odd to doubt

Such as I have a body and 2 + 2 = 4

A global sceptic is certainly not someone you would want to eat lunch with

Descartes disagrees with global scepticism and sets out to prove that

We can be certain about what we consider to be true

To start Descartes wonders what would actually give him reason to doubt

All of his beliefs

He concludes that it would take an all powerful evil demon

Whose sole purpose is to trick him

Into thinking that all of his beliefs are true when really they are not

Given the almighty power of the demon he even deceives Descartes

Of beliefs that are considered to more secure

For example all squares have four sides

In order to show that we can be certain about our beliefs

Descartes states that he must prove that without a doubt the demon

Does not exist

Descartes begins this by moving all beliefs that he has

Off the table of certainty and into the bin

Assuming that they are all false

Because they are created by this evil demon

In other words he denies his entire existence

And the existence of everything else in order to start afresh

But this time only adding beliefs to the table

That he can be truly certain of

After some thoughts such as I am hungry

I wish there was some food on this table

Descartes concludes that he can only be certain of one belief

And that is I am thinking

This is because nothing not even an all powerful evil demon

Could make him doubt that he is thinking

Since to doubt that you are thinking would be thinking in itself

From here Descartes now reasons

That because it is true that I am thinking

Then it must also be true that I exist

After all my thoughts must come from somewhere Descartes would say

Therefore at this moment we can be certain of only two beliefs

Which are I am thinking and I exist

Hence the famous quote I think therefore I am

Mousier Descartes now considers how

He could further add to the table of certainty

After a painfully long think

Descartes finally figures that the belief

The mind can exist separately from the body

Can also not be doubted

He comes to this conclusion by realising

That his conscious collection of thoughts and feelings

Can be considered a separate entity to his body

Given that he can conceive that he is thinking

And that he exists before he has proved that he even owns a body

Basically Descartes is saying that the mind

Is a thinking non - physical thing

Which is completely different to the body

Which is a Physical non -thinking thing

Therefore meaning they can exist without each other

However so far Descartes has only proved

That he is a thinking thing

And has not yet shown that his perceptual beliefs are without doubt.

Therefore meaning that Descartes

Can not even be sure that there exists any physical objects

Or that anything other than himself exists at all

It could be the case that Descartes is just a collection of thoughts

That has no body

And that the demon is just deceiving him into thinking

That the whole world around him that he senses is real

When really it is not

A modern example of this could be related to the Matrix

How do you know that the world

That you are sensing really exists

And that your not just plugged into a supercomputer

That is manipulating your thoughts

By making you think that the world it has created is real?

Don't worry because Descartes has the red pill to this problem

This is because while trying to build upon the beliefs

That he can so far be certain of

Descartes finds the concept of a Perfect being AKA God

God being a perfect being has perfection in all of his qualities

Therefore being

All powerful all knowing and all good.

René Descartes then furthers this point

By questioning whether this concept of a God

Is a reliable one to hold

In other words

He is questioning whether such a being actually exists

To start

Descartes notes that he himself is not a perfect being

After all he is capable of making mistakes

And is not at all all-knowing

Descartes then reasons that because he is imperfect

He could not have conceived of perfection himself

Since perfection can only come from perfection

Therefore meaning that the God he conceives of

Must be the source of this concept

Get ready to take that red pill

Because Descartes now finally concludes

That as God is all knowing all powerful and all good

He would not allow the existence of an evil demon

That deceives Descartes into sensing a world that is not real

The existence of God also now allows Descartes

To justify many other beliefs that he has had

Allowing Descartes to restore those beliefs

That he had previously chucked into the bin

Back onto the table of certainty

Descartes thus concludes that the Demon does not exist

And that he can finally be certain of many fundamental beliefs

That he has

Therefore showing that Global Sceptics are wrong

To think that everything can be doubted

However if Descartes had lived long enough to hear the responses of

John Locke

David Hume

Fredrich Nietzsche

Immanuel Kant

Bernard Williams

Søren Kierkegarard

Pierre Gassendi

And many others as they tore apart his work

The foundation for all of his certainty

Then maybe he would not have been so assured

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