Summary Of Meditation By Rene Descartes

The Meditations, by Rene Descartes have been continuously debated about throughout history, with much of their content still considered controversial today. In the first Meditation, Descartes questions whether we can indeed be certain of seemingly truthful things. In the passage of interest, Descartes explains his reasoning for this uncertainty by describing one’s perception of objects possibly being wrong, and of one being deceived about accepted truthful thoughts. Descartes uses these base arguments throughout Meditation I in an attempt to establish certain truths.

The first part of Descartes’ argument in the passage is that no one can be certain that the objects that are seen, sensed and believed are in fact real. In the first premise of this argument, Descartes states that for the purposes of the argument, it must be supposed that there is a God, or some such being, that created humankind, and so is in control of the mind and thoughts of all people. Descartes goes on to argue that supposing that there is this superior being that is in control of each person’s thoughts, then the individual could be forever being deceived. He explains that because of this, the individual cannot be sure that the world, or any extended thing, by which is meant corporeal or physical objects, in or …show more content…
He explains that the reason humankind cannot be sure of these things is because the all powerful being may have created existence so that all corporeal objects are but a perception of the human mind, and that they do not exist in any real, physical sense. This idea is supported