Decartes

Descartes contends that our senses lead to unreliable conclusions and opinions. For instance a straight stick partly in water appears to be bent. This he says is an illusion filled with errors, so the only way to rid ourselves of error is to doubt as a skeptic. His straight stick example points out the value of meditation and reflective thought since all that appears to our senses may be unreliable perception.

What Descartes suggests in his works can scare the every day man because h

Many have accused Descartes of circular thinking with regard to the existence of God. He acknowledges that He exists in knowledge of the mind. He believes that since he exists and he has within him an idea of a most perfect being, God, then by deduction God must exist. Some criticize his ideas on the existence God as being circular. He states that atheists will never reach true knowledge because they are not aware that God exists. He says that surely they can understand and are aware of mathematics and science but their awareness of equations does not extend to knowledge until they become aware that God exists. This circuitous argument has no end. If God exists then he exists whether all are aware of him but Descartes says that those not aware of the existence of God are in search of understanding of themselves.

His conclusion through his method of doubt is that even the body is not easily perceived by the senses of touch, smell or sight. Each of these senses is subject to an individual’s perception therefore very unreliable. That it is easier for another to understand someone than to describe them. Conventional wisdom then that the body is easier to understand than the mind is in error, therefore doubt about opinions is the first step to building a reliable body of knowledge.

I gave little thought to whether I existed before I red this book. I believed that the answer of whether I existed could be answered by a quick look in the mirror. Perhaps there is more. Perhaps understanding has nothing to do with the body. The shape of someone is merely my perception of him or her, a perception that may be shared by nobody else. Does this make my perception false or as Descartes s

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