Descartes often found himself to be mistaken with regard to matters that he formerly thought were certain. So the reason he wrote the Meditations is because he wanted to know if anything was certain in the world we live in. He does this by using a method of doubt. The idea is not that these doubts are probable, but that their possibility can never be entirely dismissed. And if we can never be certain, how can we claim to know anything? In order to determine whether there is anything we can know with certainty, he says that we have to first doubt everything we know. If we should question everything that we know, then there will be some beliefs that can’t be doubted. And those truths are what Descartes is searching for.

2. What are his three main skeptical arguments? How do they work, and what do they cast doubt on? What is Descartes’ first certainty? Why is this certain?

Since Descartes have been deceived in the past by his senses, it is obvious that his sensory experiences cannot be the basis for claims of knowledge. We do not know that what we experience through our senses is true, so the best thing to do is to doubt our senses. He remarks that only one thing

is certain that nothing is certain. Also, we can’t be sure that we really have bodies or that our experience of the world can be trusted. So we might be dreaming the whole thing because there is no evidence possible that all is not a dream. Descartes realizes that someone may not accept that all of the elements of our dreams may be illusory, so he says that God would deceive us. He believes that there is an all powerful God who has created us and who is perfect. It is not in God's nature to deceive us; he would not allow us to be deceived at all. God can’t be the source of our deceptions, we will assume that there exists an evil demon, who is capable of deceiving us in the same way we supposed God to be able. We can’t even be sure that 1+1=2 or that a triangle has three sides are true because some evil demon might be deceiving us to think such things, when it is possible that even propositions that seem obvious to us might themselves be really false. It is possible that all knowledge of external objects, including our body’s, could be false as the result of the actions of an evil demon. It is not, however, possible that we could be deceived about our existence as a thinking thing. The fact that I doubt can’t be doubted. Therefore thinking in our minds proves that we exist, regardless whether we have bodies. The body and senses are not essential parts of the self because we can doubt its existence but we can’t doubt the existence of the mind. So he concludes that he exists because he thinks: "Cogito ergo sum," I think, therefore I exist. "Cogito ergo sum" is the first certainty Descartes knows. He is certain that he is a thinking thing and he clearly and distinctly perceives this fact. He could not be certain unless all clear and distinct perceptions can be certain. Therefore, he concludes whatever he perceives clearly and distinctly must be true. He further illust

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