The Importance of Doubting

by Russell Virata

20 September 2012

Discussed text: Rene Descartes, Mediations on the First Philosophy

The common perception of people when it comes to the word “doubt” is something negative. To doubt means to question, to be unsure, or simply to distrust. When someone, say a close friend, doubts you, you will definitely get hurt or be offended (unless of course you know yourself that what you said to him or her was a lie). Reversing the situation, when you doubt someone, there is the possibility of losing your trust and bond with that person. However, as we have discussed in class, doubting can be positive and is an important step in doing philosophy.

Galileo, through the act of doubting that the sun is the one revolving around the earth, was able to discover that the opposite is true. Descartes also doubted the philosophical foundations during his time and was able to come up with his own method known as the “Universal Methodic Doubt”. He first doubted his senses, thinking that these can be a form of deception like when you are dreaming or when you are in reality a butterfly thinking that you are a man. (I personally had a similar experience in the past when I thought, what if I, together with other people, are just characters being controlled by someone who is playing “The Sims”? But then this sounds improbable given the fact that a Sims character should not have a thinking of his own and I, having this thought, am sure that I am thinking.) Descartes then also doubted the foundations of mathematics, thinking that there could be an evil genie who is tricking him to believe that a triangle is a three-sided polygon or that two plus three equals five. Finally, after doubting everything, Descartes came up with the conclusion that there is only one thing he cannot doubt, and that is he exists as a thinking thing which doubts. Through doubting, Galileo and Descartes were able to have their own thoughts.

Indeed, doubting the norm and the status quo, just like what these two did, is very important in philosophy. As Simon Critchley says, “The philosopher neither sees nor hears the so-called unwritten laws of the city, that is, the mores and conventions that govern public life.” Bear in mind that this does not mean doubting and philosophy is about contradicting socially accepted truths or proving new discoveries. This just means that in doing philosophy, one should not easily accept things and take them for granted even if they are universally accepted, but rather to be always open to inquiries, questions and possibilities. It is from these questions that insights, reflections and realizations come in. For example, I have my own experience, which I believe some of us have also encountered, where my parents instilled in my mind when I was still a child that I should be a doctor when I grow up because no one in our extended family has become a doctor yet and of course doctors have very high salary. As I grew up, I doubted that being a doctor was for me because I did not like science much and so I took up a course which was more interesting for me. If I accepted my parents’ advice for me and closed my mind from the other possible paths, then I am pretty sure I would not be enjoying college now.

Take the RH Bill debate as another example. We should not choose a side simply because many people are pro-RH Bill or because the Catholic Church is anti-RH Bill. Rather, we should carefully assess and inquire about the different advantages and disadvantages of it before thinking critically whether the bill is actually worth passing or not. And even after having your own stand, I think you can still doubt some more and increase your thoughts about both sides. This is just one of many situations where doubting can be relevant.

As we can see, doubting is not only relevant in the times of Galileo and Descartes, but also in the present. It is a very essential ingredient in philosophy, which is not meant to break the laws, but rather to enable one to think and reflect on his own. Let me end with a quote by George Iles, “Doubt is the beginning, not the end, of wisdom.”