What Makes Descartes's Dream Argument

In Meditation I, Descartes raises a great philosophical question as he argues to show that he cannot possibly know that he is not always dreaming. He asserts that there are no definite signs to distinguish his dreaming experiences from waking experiences. In his argument, he defends the idea that we could all be trapped in a life-long dream and that none of our experiences are real. Descartes then develops his argument furthermore to prove his existence and the idea of dualism. In his Meditation he raises the question: “How can I know that I am not dreaming?” This very question provoked a very problematic concept that many philosophers attempt to explain. This dream argument that Descartes engaged in was so simple yet so deep as it impacts and weakens all our knowledge and beliefs of the external world. Therefore, it has become one of the most major breakthroughs in modern day philosophy and a major concentration for philosophers.
This paper will argue that Descartes’s dream argument is true and that we cannot possibly know that we are not dreaming right now. Firstly, Dreams are most often described …show more content…
Yet, our senses may deceive us in some instances, especially when there are certain situations where our senses are poor. For example, if we are in a situation where an object is too far we may misinterpret that object. Thinking back to our dreaming experiences, very often we are being deceived by our senses. According to Descartes, he has had dreams that made him believe that he is sitting in his dressing gown by the fire yet in actuality he is laying undressed in his bed (Descartes 13). However, at that very moment it seems so real that he could feel the heat of the fire on his body. In that very instance, his dreaming experience is so vivid and clear that he was convinced he was awake in that very moment. This makes us distrust some, if not all, of our perceptual beliefs that are base on our