"Dubito ergo cogito, cogito ergo sum"

 

A brief biography of Descartes:

René Descartes was born near Tours, France. He received his education from Jesuit Collège Royale in La Flèche. Descartes was allowed to stay in bed due to his ill-health until late morning and he formed the habit of meditation. From the age of 16, he concentrated on studying mathematics. However, a breach of 4 years was created in his study since he went to volunteer in Europe's Thirty Years War as a volunteer. During this time, he felt the urge of philosophical calling and focused on this after leaving the army. He spent most of his time in Netherlands and Paris. In 1649, he was invited to Sweden by Queen Christiana with a view to discussing philosophy. There he was expected to get up quite early in the morning. Descartes understood that this new regim of his routine and the Swedish climate caused pneumonia of which he died a year later.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MJ7fT9cCqRYk76_i_w3bJkVZjRvVQLja/view?usp=drivesdk (link for Descartes's detailed biography) 

* Approach: Rationalism

* Branch: Epistemology

* Works: Discourse on the Method (1637)

                 Meditations on First Philosophy (1641)

                 Principles of Philosophy (1644)

                 De Homine Figuris (1666) 

An overview of Descartes philosophy: 

It is not unknown that Renaissance was an era of scientific and cultural rebirth. It was an emancipation from the long-established rigid and orthodox rules and regulations of religion. People got their intellectual freedom from the curse of the Medieval era. This age gave birth to a myriad of estimable scientific figures and artists who were inspired by western culture and philosophy. Shakespeare, Francis Bacon, Galileo Galilei, Leonardo da Vinci were some phenomenal personalities of that time. René Descartes was a French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist who also thrived in this age. He expressed his own viewpoints about life through the widely acclaimed quote: "Dubito ergo cogito, cogito ergo sum." 

Explanation of the aforementioned quote: 

Descartes is a staunch rationalist. So, he always gives priority to logic. According to him, we should not believe anything without proper reasoning and logic. He believes that the world is full of illusions and even our senses which are related to our body can deceive us. Almighty God is not beyond the doubt of Descartes. In his view, either God has made us in such a way which is flawed or there is no existence of God at all. For this reason, all human beings are definitely imperfect. Descartes suggests that we should not take anything as absolute truth without judging it if we are the true pursuers of knowledge. 

Here, we can relate Descartes's view with the thoughts of the two pioneering Greek philosophers- Socrates and Plato. 

We all know that Socrates has always put emphasis on the concept of self-exploration. According to Socrates, if a life goes unexamined and a person fails to activate his reasoning faculty, then his life will be ended up like a cocoon. I can mention his two most famous quotes which I also cherish personally a lot. These are: 

* "Know thyself"

* "An unexamined life is not worth living"

It is highly important to know the distinction between good and bad if we dream to lead a better life. Questioning, arguing, annulling, using own logic all these things can play a vital role to figure out the difference between the virtues and the vices. 

Plato was the pupil of Socrates and recorded Socrates's conversations with others in his writings. In Plato's words, what we see in front of our eyes are all illusions. Everything in this universe is definitely an illusion of the perfect objects which are kept in a spiritual world. 

                                    

In this whirlpool of doubt and skepticism, it Descartes's own existence which is the only certainty. He can categorically assures that he exists. As he exists, he can think and a thinking mind can have its own logic, the power of judgement and reasoning sense. Therefore, the Meditations is written in the first person form "I think." 

To Descartes, doubting is a kind of thinking. So, Descartes's philosophy also includes the notion of doubting everything and disbelief in anything without logic. 

Descartes's De Homine Figuris : 

According to Descartes, our mind and the body are connected through the pineal gland. The light rays of a substance penetrate into some subtle particles of the eyes and form an image. Then, this image is transmitted into the gland and guides us how to react to our vision. 

The Cartesian View of Life: 

This theory has been derived from Descartes's rationalism and dualism. It has some other names too. These are: 

1) Cartesian doubt 

2) Cartesian skepticism

3) Methodic doubt

4) Methodological doubt/ skepticism

5) Universal doubt

6) Systematic doubt

7) Hyperbolic doubt 

The Cartesian thinkers believe that the mind is absolutely distinct from the body. As Descartes claim that he is a thinking thing and all his thoughts, logics, and doubts are stored in his mind, the mind is certainly metaphysical and free from all illusions and deceptions of the body. Moreover, our mind is whole. On the other hand, the corporeal body of sensations and instincts is not whole because one might easily lose an arm or a leg by an accident. 

Criticism of Descartes's philosophy: 

Descartes could not escape from the invasion of the critics. The critics have asked the question, "If all the thinking things have existence, then why does Hamlet not exist in spite of having a supreme thought faculty?" If Hamlet does not exist, then Descartes is definitely wrong. Descartes is not sure about Hamlet, Othello, Rosalind, or any character. However, he knows about himself. So, the use of first person is dominant in his works.