How Descartes Throws On The Wind Of Search For A Universal...

In this essay I will address how Descartes throws all his beliefs to the wind in search for a universal and unchanging foundational truth, that bypass his deceptive senses and shines light on all his beliefs that are clearly and distinctly, proven based on his supreme foundational truth. As Descartes tries to unravel his former beliefs and find an unquestioning truth in which he can build all other truths without the errors of deception leading him astray. Descartes begins his search by questioning how his former beliefs became questionable and faulty in the first place. In meditation one Descartes explains that everything that he had previously believed in before had been learned either by his sensory perceptions or through his sensory†¦show more content†¦Which leads Descartes to distrust all his sensory perceptions, because he feels that they can be used against him to deceive him. However Descartes does see that even though his senses can deceive him that doesn’t mean that his senses aren’t altogether a deception themselves. His mind cannot create something that he himself has never felt, heard, seen, smelled, or tasted before, the mind creates what it has encountered before and sometimes even if you haven’t encountered a specific s ituation or sensation the mind will at least compare it to something of similar sensation. So, for this Descartes knows that his senses have the ability to deceive him but that when they do deceive him they are using real reference points. With the false sensory perceptions in mind, Descartes believes of this idea that an evil demon exist to solely try and deceive him using his senses. Which leads Descartes to cut out all understanding and beliefs of everything he cant be sure of â€Å"no sky, no earth, no minds, no bodies† (pg. 139). But then Descartes realizes and states in his second meditation, if he cut outs everything in which he thought existed what would he be left with, nothing, would he himself even exist? No, he has to exist right because he’s thinking and the evil demon is deceiving him. The evil demon would not try and deceive him if he did not exist in the first place. (Descartes Meditations 1-3, slide 26) This train of thought leads Descartes to his most famous line and the basis