Descartes and Certainty Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Descartes and Certainty - Essay Example Descartes opens himself to the possibility of rejecting the beliefs he has adopted early in life without proof down to the ones that lay foundation on his belief system. Descartes starts off by questioning his physical and spiritual existence. He checks for the veracity of his possessing a body and soul. His doubts escalate to the properties of objects such as dimension, color, quantity, and the place and time during which they exist. Afterwards and quite quickly, Descartes jumps into the subject of the existence of God, which also appears in a separate meditation - Meditation III. One may ask, "Why does Descartes' questioning on the existence of God appear so early in Meditation I" After attempting to prove his existence, Descartes tries to prove the existence of God or what he refers to as Deity. To him the ability to prove God's existence is the most significant goal the failure of which implied inability to prove everything else. This is how important the goal is to him. To a believer like Descartes, conceiving of ideas and existence of other things is only possible with God. It seems impossible to comprehend a world without a God. The existence of God simplifies the laws of nature, and answers the questions as to why the universe behaves the way it does. From his writings, it is clear that Descartes believes in God. Meditation II gives us a clearer view of Descartes' "I think therefore I am." Note that in Meditation I, Descartes' doubts concerning life, the universe and everything are strengthened by the contemplation of an "omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent" God being a deceiver. In many of his musings, Descartes bumps into skepticism but rejected it right away. At length, Descartes goes about his uncertainties and contradicts them to be able to get to his desired answer. He talks about intuition of the mind arguing that objects and bodies should be perceived not by the senses or imagination but by the intellect alone. Meditation III reveals Descartes advancing in his method of finding truth by forming a basis of certainty - the clear and distinct. To quote: "In this first knowledge, doubtless, there is nothing that gives me assurance of its truth except the clear and distinct perception of what I affirm". By "clear and distinct" he refers to objects that were not only perceived by his senses and ideas that formed in his mind but also objects whose existence was external to him. Despite this, Descartes cannot help doubting. As he progresses towards certainty, a new question forms in his mind and the process becomes circular. Descartes answers his metaphysical doubt by proving that God exists and is not a deceiver. Once he has proven the existence of God then everything else will follow. He treats the existence of God in the context of the existence of the material world. He uses wax as an example - extending it, melting it and so on and applies the same process of thought with God or Deity, for that matter. How ever little that metaphysical doubt, it has to be eliminated in order to witness the certainty of the existence of things. Descartes has to convince us that God or the evil genius has not merely enticed him into thinking that something can't emerge from nothing. Descartes attempts to make his point by dealing with contradictions. He uses

Understanding what Taylor to be saying about the meaning of life Assignment

Understanding what Taylor to be saying about the meaning of life - Assignment Example The stone would roll repeatedly roll down and he would have to constantly roll the stone back up forever. Sisyphus was punished for telling secrets of the gods to other humans. Taylor cites this activity as â€Å"a meaningless, pointless toil of a meaningless existence that is absolutely never redeemed.† (Taylor, n.d., p.141) There are no further results of the activity other than its repetitiveness. Taylor then suggests an alteration of this myth: If the gods had given the same punishment, while making Sisyphus really want to continuously roll stones up a hill even if it was still considered a pointless activity he would likely find his life to be meaningful. By presenting readers with this alternative scenario Taylor seems to suggest that life is made meaningful by determination, a positive attitude and acceptance of daily tasks. While Sisyphus is still performing the same tasks as in the previous myth, the only difference is that Sisyphus is determined to complete these tas ks .As Taylor explains when discussing the alternative scenario: â€Å"Sisyphus has been reconciled to it, (his task) and indeed more he has been led to embrace it.† (Taylor, n.d., p144) Therefore it is up to the individual to create meaning for his/her life. The meaning of life depends upon the tasks that are done on a daily basis even if they do not amount to anything significant. It partially depends upon one’s attitude about their daily routines. For example if individuals can accept the fact that they need to go to work to make a living even if they dislike their jobs and they have a positive attitude about it their lives can be meaningful. However if you feel negatively about your job and believe you are not accomplishing anything worthwhile but do not attempt to make changes to improve your situation, you will likely view your life as meaningless. Taylor looks at the lives of the glow worms