Cartesian doubt is methodological. Its purpose is to use doubt as a route to certain knowledge by finding those things which could not be doubted.[3] The fallibility of sense data in particular is a subject of Cartesian doubt.[3]

Descartes' method

René Descartes René Descartes , (31 March 1596 – 11 February 1650), also known as Renatus Cartesius (Latinized form; adjectival form: "Cartesian"), was a French philosopher, mathematician, physicist, and writer who spent most of his adult life in the Dutch Republic. He has been dubbed the "Father of Modern Philosophy", and much of, the originator of Cartesian doubt, automatically put all beliefs, ideas, thoughts, and matter in doubt. He showed that his grounds, or reasoning, for any knowledge could just as well be false. Sensory experience, the primary mode of knowledge, is often erroneous and therefore must be doubted. For instance, what one is seeing may very well be a hallucination. There is nothing that proves it cannot be. In short, if there is any way a belief can be disproved, then its grounds are insufficient. From this, Descartes proposed two arguments, the dream and the demon.[2]

The dream

Descartes, knowing that the context of our dreams, while possibly unbelievable, is often life-like, hypothesized that humans can only believe that they are awake. There are no sufficient grounds by which to distinguish a dream experience from a waking experience. For instance, Subject A sits at her computer, typing this article. Just as much evidence exists to indicate that her composing this article is reality as there is to demonstrate the opposite. Descartes conceded that we live in a world that can create such ideas as dreams. However, by the end of The Meditations, he concludes that we can distinguish dream from reality at least in retrospect.[2]

The demon

Descartes reasoned that our very own experience may very well be controlled by an evil demon of sorts. This demon, or genius, is powerful enough to control anybody. He could have created a superficial world that we may think we live in.[2]

Eradication

Descartes believed that doubt can be erased by studying the "first person".[clarification needed] This heralded the term "cogito ergo sum Cogito ergo sum , often mistakenly stated as Dubito ergo cogito ergo sum (English: "I doubt, therefore I think, therefore I am"), is a philosophical statement in Latin used by René Descartes, which became a foundational element of Western philosophy. The simple meaning of the phrase is that if someone is wondering whether or not they" – "I think, therefore I am".[2]

References

  1. ^ "A Philosophical Glossary" edited by Justin Leiber, Philosophy Department, University of Houston, USA.
  2. ^ a b c d e Roger Scruton Roger Vernon Scruton is an English philosopher, writer, and composer. He is currently a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and the Visiting Professor of aesthetics at the philosophy faculty of the University of Oxford. Modern Philosophy: An Introduction and Survey. London: Penguin Books, 1994.
  3. ^ a b "Cartesian Doubt and Cartesian Rationalism" Prof J. Strayer
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'Cartesian Doubt' Answers
I'm writing a book entitled 'philosophical themes in popular cinema.'?
Q. I know similar projects to this have been undertaken before, but the book I'm writing compares actual philosophical theories to themes in movies not sweeping philosophical movements (although sometimes this can't be helped). I'll give you a few examples- Gyges ring (Plato's Republic)- Hollow Man Censorship (Republic)-equilibrium Cartesian doubt- Vanilla Sky, Matrix (of course) Hobbes 'state of nature'- Lord of the Flies Locke on memory- momento Rouseau's noble savage- Tarzan JS Mill, utilitarianism- Minority Report Nietzsche, ubermensch and eternal recurrance- Tommy, Groundhog day... To name a few. Can you think of any direct comparisons between a movie's theme and a philosopher's theory? Thanks for any help. Thanks for all your… [cont.]
Asked by soppy.bollocks - Thu Jan 3 00:59:12 2008 - - 11 Answers - 0 Comments

A. More subjective reality (aka Cartesian doubt) The Thirteenth Floor It's kind of Matrixy. Came out around the same time and was overlooked. It's not great, but it has Vincent D'Onofrio. Brazil ends with a dose of this "its all in his head stuff." Dark City has subjective reality themes. But it also hammers away at the concept of guilt and identity and if a person is inherently evil or if they are evil by circumstance. The city rulers transplant people's essences into different bodies to see if they behave differently. Sounds like the sort of thought experiment that Locke would have loved.
Answered by Barth E - Thu Jan 3 01:51:08 2008

Yahoo Answers Search: Cartesian doubt,
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