Analysis of Rene Descartes Philosophy of Doubt

There is a new wave in the world of understanding, a wave that is pushing forward the frontiers of conventional philosophies and scientific views of the philosophers. The most exciting aspect of it is that it connects with ancient spiritual understanding about the exact nature of being human and existing with his/her mind, body nor the soul.

As the great philosopher Rene Descartes said “everything that we know is made possible because of our senses”. For me, I agree with him. Why? First of all every situation in our life we can sense what is danger and safe. When we feel like it’s not good and it irritates you something from that feelings, you will know from your senses that there are not good happening or was going to happened around you. Safe is that whenever you’re with a good person, from building a trust and using senses you will know that you’re in a safe place with the safe person. See? Senses played a big role in our life that we must appreciate by a deeper understanding. But sometimes our senses can be deceived and it can deceive us. We have used Senses in our everyday life and was proven that not all the time we must relay on our senses. Our senses can be trusted but they can be easily fooled too. Yes! You read it right. If our senses deceive us, truth becomes an illusion, our thoughts are silly mind-games and in result we are just nothing.

Also, Rene Descartes said “I doubt therefore I exist”. This is his methodic doubt way of searching for certainty by systematically though tentatively doubting. In connection with that, senses are doubtable. For in our mind doubting is also one thing to know that you are existing. When a person’s mind becomes overrated and tends to think from doubting he/she exists. Now doubting is an aspect of thinking and we think, therefore we exist. Aside from that, he also mentioned to doubt everything. Doubt as many as you can because for him we are a doubting beings. But however just like senses, there are something that we cannot doubt. We can never doubt while we are doubting. The more we doubt while doubting, the more it shows that we are doubting.

At this point it’s kinda very confusing to understand the doubting and doubt word. For us to clearly understand here’s another set of existing, using the soul with Rene Descartes. If thinking with doubting and thinking is not a physical activity, then it is an activity of the soul. I have understood from Descartes that every mind activities is considered as activity of the soul. So it’s like interesting because we are a thinking beings and consider as a souls. How about the body? For Descartes perception of the body is simply a man’s instrument for living in this world.

I’ve learned so many things in Rene Descartes philosophy. I can say that the truth of which can be doubted in any way, one will find some indubitable certainties. The mind could exist without the body, but the body could not exist without the mind. Hence, we know the existence of the mind better than we know the existence of the body.