In Descartes “Evil Deceiver” argument he argues that an evil demon is the source of our deception rather than an omnipotent God. The strongest argument that Descartes presents is the idea that our senses cannot be trusted as the world around us and everything we experience is a constructed illusion. In this paper, I will argue that this argument can be seen as sound as our senses can not be trusted because they are unreliable.
In “Meditation I: What Can be Called Into Doubt” Descartes explains to us that the information we are receiving through our senses isn’t inherently accurate. He threw out all the previous information he had known or acquired and tore down the construct that information conveyed through sensory perception was accurate. For example, Descartes argues that “there are never …show more content…
301). The fact that things can be conveyed to him in a state where they’re not actually real, goes to show that he can’t trust things that are conveyed to him in real life. Likewise in the evil deceiver argument, it suggest that he may be under the control of a malicious demon who has “employed all his energies in order to deceive me.” (p. 303). This argument alludes to that that whatever our senses experience is fake and that the information we receive is being fed to us; but if we can’t trust our sense than how can we trust knowledge of the external world.
Although Descartes arguments are not to be taken as too literal, I do think he is correct that our senses can be easily deceived. The information we receive from our senses can be mistrusted and ruin the
In “Meditation I: What Can be Called Into Doubt” Descartes explains to us that the information we are receiving through our senses isn’t inherently accurate. He threw out all the previous information he had known or acquired and tore down the construct that information conveyed through sensory perception was accurate. For example, Descartes argues that “there are never …show more content…
301). The fact that things can be conveyed to him in a state where they’re not actually real, goes to show that he can’t trust things that are conveyed to him in real life. Likewise in the evil deceiver argument, it suggest that he may be under the control of a malicious demon who has “employed all his energies in order to deceive me.” (p. 303). This argument alludes to that that whatever our senses experience is fake and that the information we receive is being fed to us; but if we can’t trust our sense than how can we trust knowledge of the external world.
Although Descartes arguments are not to be taken as too literal, I do think he is correct that our senses can be easily deceived. The information we receive from our senses can be mistrusted and ruin the