13 September 2012
Discussed Text: Rene Descartes, Meditations on the First Philosophy
Doubt, the very word speaks with negativity. It means not to accept, not to compromise, not to agree. It brews up images of conflict, and mistrust. Doubt, to most people is something that leads to worse things. It can be likened to temptation which can be seen as the cause of evil things, like how doubt leads us to do things in retaliation to things that aren’t even true. However, like temptation, it isn’t wrong or evil to doubt. We must only learn to use it to our advantages.
Rene Descartes discovered how to make one of the biggest weaknesses of humanity into a great ally. His doubt of what truly exists, led him to pioneer the use of reason in the natural sciences. The method of doubt he used was methodological skepticism, which is to doubt everything, unless proven otherwise. One of the few absolutes that he can conclude is his own existence. He sums this up in a simple sentence, “Cogito ergo sum” or “I think, therefore I am”. If he can doubt something, that means something is making him doubt, or at least causing him to doubt. So by this logic, there exists something to make him doubt. His doubt, or more accurately, his use of doubt led him to go on a philosophical journey to discover himself.
To utilize doubt as a way to better ourselves, we need to know how Descartes did it. He expressed humility in his actions. He knew that knowledge found in a book would always pale in comparison to experience. No matter how well learned he was, he still managed to open himself up and say that there are still some things that he needed to learn.
This has got to be one of the biggest lessons that we can grab from Descartes. He doubted because he was open to the idea that he wasn’t perfect. He wasn’t content with what he knew, with what he could learn.
I guess that’s how we should be. We shouldn’t just be satisfied with what’s in a book, it’s in a book, that knowledge is one internet search or library search away. What should really matter to us is what we do in the real world. Doubt is a fork in the road. We just have to decide which road to take.
I like how you took doubt, switched it around into another perspective.
ReplyDeleteI believe another form that doubt took place is Descartes' passion; Descartes passion to learn. In his desire (maybe even exigence) to learn, it created a doubtful man that doesn't doubt because he wants a conflict rather doubt to make things clearer; wholistic even.
Jazmin Reyes
Section C
Indeed, doubt is the manifestation of Descartes' passion to understand life and find its meaning. Remember that his doubt is not just some sort of random skepticism, but a form of searching for an anchor, as to where he can pin everything in his life. Perhaps one important question that we must not miss with Descartes is: where shall I anchor my life on?
DeleteCheers to you.
ReplyDeleteAs Doctor Garcia said in class, Descrates was a pivotal figure into the shift from medieval to modern thinking. One of the characteristics of medieval thinking, I believe, was unquestioning obedience. The individual was small in the face of the powers that were regarded as absolute. (The Church, royalty as appointed by divine mandate, the social hierarchy, etc.) Descartes was a man who had the courage to stand up and say "What if you're wrong?"
That would a hasty judgment on medieval thought. It's not about unquestioning obedience (quick fact: St. Thomas Aquinas synthesized Plato and Aristotle, and the Church does not in fact approve of the latter). I think it's more of moving within a particular worldview and making sense of it. Descartes moved within a particular worldview and explored its other possibilities, in the same way as the Greeks or Aquinas did in their own time.
DeleteIt amazes me how doubt, something quite negative, can lead to a positive approach to life. When one doubts, it is not to deny nor confirm, but it is merely an act that leads one to discover more about himself and the world.
ReplyDeleteDoubting, at the same time, allows us to achieve that personal touch in philosophizing. To doubt enables us to question the certainty of things. It is through doubting that we get to draw our destiny, such that we are empowered to act in a way that affirms our being human.
As to how I see it, Descartes put doubting under a more positive light. Despite the negative meaning attached to it, he still managed to prove that it is an essential tool for every philosopher because as one doubts, new doors of possibilities are opened, new rays of realizations seep through and a longer path of discoveries lie in waiting. And I guess, this is one factor that ensures the continuity of philosophy and the same time, it is as equally important as experience for it gives depth to our own philosophical expedition.
Kara Leongson
PH101-C