Rene Descartes’ Meditations in the First Philosophy is a skeptic’s
speculation on certain inalienable truths. Descartes meditations are based on
the epistemological theory of rationalism: that is if someone truly knows
something then they could not possibly be mistaken. He provides solid arguments
for what his six meditations stand for, and how he obtained a clear and distinct
perception of "innate" ideas. In Meditations he comes to terms with
three certainties: the existence of the mind as the thing that thinks, the body
as an extension, and God as the supreme being. He attests that he came to these
conclusions by doubting all that had been taught to him in his formal education,
and all he received through the senses. Descartes’ first uncertainty was noted
in Discourse of Method. "I found myself embarrassed with so many doubts and
errors that it seemed to me that the effort to instruct myself had no effect
other than the increasing discovery of my ignorance" (Baird p. 11). He had
difficultly embracing the diverse, and sometimes hypocritical, ideas he
encountered in his studies. He developed a skeptical frame of reference; this
uncertain point of view aided him in developing Meditations. All that he saw,
tasted, touched, smelled and heard was caste into uncertainty. He thought all of
his confusion and indeterminate ideas were caused by the senses. According to
Descartes, "The senses deceive, and it is prudent never to trust completely
those who have deceived us even once”(Baird, Forrest E. p. 22). He used the
example of perceiving the sun and the moon. When both are looked upon from
earth, they appear to be about the same size and distance from our planet.
Mathematics, however reveal an enormous difference in their size and distance.
This is why he desperately needed to abandon all he had learned and acquired
through the senses. Certainty surfaced beyond all that he doubted, and to know
these certainties led Descartes to the truth. To know, according to Descartes,
was to have a clear and distinct perception of an idea. One could perceive ideas
clearly and distinctly through a process of introspection and reflection. When a
person abandoned all that was received through the senses they were then able to
deduce the essence of an idea. The essence was the most basic foundation of
existence; that is the simplest universal truth. To know was to truly understand
the essence of a thing or idea. The first thing Descartes was able to clearly
and distinctly perceive was the idea of the mind. The mind represented the self
or the idea of "I". It did not represent the self as in physical
appearances because the mind has no physical attributes. The mind, according to
Descartes’, is simply the thing that thinks. The essence of the mind is,
"A thing that doubts, understands, affirms, denies, is willing, is
unwilling and also imagines and has sensory perceptions" (Baird, p. 13). He
also knew with certainty the idea of an extended thing. By extension he means a
body or substance that exist in nature, and outside the thinking thing. It was
the essence of that which he could describe with mathematical certainty. He
emphasizes a distinction between the mind and body. "...in as much as the
body is the very nature is always divisible as the mind is utterly
indivisible." (Baird, Forrest E. p. 53) Descartes clearly and distinctly
perceived an idea of a Supreme Being or God, the perfect infinite manifestation
of mind. "By the word 'God' I understand a substance that is infinite,
independent, supremely intelligent, supremely powerful, and which created both
myself and everything else that exists" (Baird, Forrest E. p. 34).
Descartes has a clear and distinct perception of God and reasons that it must be
It that grants him the ability to clearly and distinctly perceive God. Descartes
speculations on certainty may not have satisfied an empiricist's point of view
of experience as an essential element in knowledge, but alas, he was a
rationalist. So in Descartes’ mind one can only know with certainty the Mind
as the thinking thing, the Body as the extended thing and God as a supreme
being. BibliographyDescartes, Rene. Meditations in the First Philosophy. In Baird, Forest E. and
Walter Kaufmann, Modern Philosophy, 3rd Edition Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice
Hall, 2000.