
Cartesian doubt is a form of methodological skepticism associated with the writings and methodology of René Descartes (March 31, 1596–February 11, 1650).: 88 Cartesian doubt is also known as Cartesian skepticism, methodic doubt, methodological skepticism, universal doubt, systematic doubt, or hyperbolic doubt.
Cartesian doubt is a systematic process of being skeptical about (or doubting) the truth of one's beliefs, which has become a characteristic method in philosophy.: 403 Additionally, Descartes' method has been seen by many as the root of the modern scientific method. This method of doubt was largely popularized in Western philosophy by René Descartes, who sought to doubt the truth of all beliefs in order to determine which he could be certain were true. It is the basis for Descartes' statement, "Cogito ergo sum" (I think, therefore I am). A fuller version of his phrase: "dubito ergo cogito, cogito ergo sum" translates to "I doubt therefore I think, I think therefore I exist." Sum translated as "I exist" (per various Latin to English dictionaries) presents a much larger and clearer meaning to the phrase.
Methodological skepticism is distinguished from philosophical skepticism in that methodological skepticism is an approach that subjects all knowledge claims to scrutiny with the goal of sorting out true from false claims, whereas philosophical skepticism is an approach that questions the possibility of certain knowledge.: 354
Characteristics
Cartesian doubt is methodological. It uses doubt as a route to certain knowledge by identifying what can't be doubted. The fallibility of sense data in particular is a subject of Cartesian doubt.
There are several interpretations as to the objective of Descartes' skepticism. Prominent among these is a foundationalist account, which claims that Descartes' skepticism aims to eliminate all belief that it is possible to doubt, thus leaving only basic beliefs (also known as foundational beliefs).: 64–65 From these indubitable basic beliefs, Descartes then attempts to derive further knowledge. It's an archetypal and significant example that epitomizes the Continental Rational schools of philosophy.: 6
Mario Bunge argues that methodological skepticism presupposes that scientific theories and methods satisfy certain philosophical requirements: idealism, materialism, realism, rationalism, empiricism, and systemics, that the data and hypotheses of science constitute a system.
Technique
Descartes' method of hyperbolic doubt included:: 67–70
- Accepting only information you know is true
- Breaking down these truths into smaller units
- Solving the simple problems first
- Making complete lists of further problems
Hyperbolic doubt means having the tendency to doubt, since it is an extreme or exaggerated form of doubt.: 115 Knowledge in the Cartesian sense means to know something beyond not merely all reasonable doubt, but all possible doubt. In his Meditations on First Philosophy (1641), Descartes resolved to systematically doubt that any of his beliefs were true, in order to build, from the ground up, a belief system consisting of only certainly true beliefs; his end goal—or at least a major one—was to find an undoubtable basis for the sciences. Consider Descartes' opening lines of the Meditations:
Several years have now elapsed since I first became aware that I had accepted, even from my youth, many false opinions for true, and that consequently what I afterward based on such principles was highly doubtful; and from that time I was convinced of the necessity of undertaking once in my life to rid myself of all the opinions I had adopted, and of commencing anew the work of building from the foundation...—Descartes, Meditation I, 1641
Descartes' method
René Descartes, the originator of Cartesian doubt, 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.: 33–36
The dream argument
Descartes, knowing that the context of our dreams, while possibly unbelievable, are often lifelike, hypothesized that humans can only believe that they are awake.: 353–368 There are no sufficient grounds to distinguish a dream experience from a waking experience. For instance, Subject A sits at the computer, typing this article. Just as much evidence exists to indicate that the act of composing this article is reality as there is evidence 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:: 538
"But when I distinctly see where things come from and where and when they come to me, and when I can connect my perceptions of them with the whole of the rest of my life without a break, then I am quite certain that when I encounter these things I am not asleep but awake."—Descartes: Selected Philosophical Writings: 122
The Evil Demon
Descartes reasoned that our very own experience may very well be controlled by an evil demon of sorts. This demon is as clever and deceitful as he is powerful. He could have created a superficial world that we may think we live in. As a result of this doubt, sometimes termed the Malicious Demon Hypothesis, Descartes found that he was unable to trust even the simplest of his perceptions.: 66
In Meditation I, Descartes stated that if one were mad, even briefly, the insanity might have driven man into believing that what we thought was true could be merely our minds deceiving us. He also stated that there could be 'some malicious, powerful, cunning demon' that had deceived us, preventing us from judging correctly.: 308
Descartes argued that all his senses were lying, and since your senses can easily fool you, his idea of an infinitely powerful being must be true—since that idea could have only been put there by an infinitely powerful being who would have no reason for deceit.: 16
I think, therefore I am
While methodic doubt has a nature, one need not hold that knowledge is impossible to apply the method of doubt.: 83 Indeed, Descartes' attempt to apply the method of doubt to the existence of himself spawned the proof of his famous saying, "Cogito, ergo sum" (I think, therefore I am). That is, Descartes tried to doubt his own existence, but found that even his doubting showed that he existed, since he could not doubt if he did not exist.: 56
See also
- Academic skepticism
- Bracketing (phenomenology)
- Clinical equipoise
- Egocentric predicament
- Incontrovertible evidence
- Suspension of judgment
- Solipsism
- Theory of justification
References
- Scruton, Roger (2004). Modern Philosophy: An Introduction and Survey. London, England: Pimlico Books. pp. 39–50. ISBN 9781844131068.
- Leiber, Justin, ed. (2001). A Philosophical Glossary (PDF). Houston, Texas: University of Houston. p. 88.
- Marmysz, John (2012). The Path of Philosophy: Truth, Wonder, and Distress. Boston, Massachusetts: Wadsworth. p. 403.
- Guite, Haulian (2017). Confessions of a Dying Mind: The Blind Faith Of Atheism. London, England: Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 354. ISBN 978-9386432216.
- Rockmore, T., On Foundationalism: A Strategy for Metaphysical Realism (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2005), pp. 64–65.
- Broughton, J., Descartes's Method of Doubt (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2002), p. 6.
- Bunge, Mario (Summer 1992). "The Scientist's Skepticism". Skeptical Inquirer. Amherst, New York: Center for Inquiry. pp. 377–380. Archived from the original on 12 September 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
- Griffith, J., Fable, Method, and Imagination in Descartes (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2018), pp. 67–70.
- Skirry (2006), p. 115.
- Scruton, R. (2012). Modern Philosophy: An Introduction and Survey. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 33–36. ISBN 978-1-4482-1051-0.
- Stone, J., "Dreaming and Certainty", Philosophical Studies 45, 1983, pp. 353–368.
- Scruton, R., Modern Philosophy: An Introduction and Survey (London: Penguin Books, 1994), p. 538.
- Descartes, René (1988-02-26). Descartes: Selected Philosophical Writings. Cambridge University Press. p. 122. ISBN 9780521358125.
- Revonsuo, A., Consciousness: The Science of Subjectivity (Milton Park: Taylor & Francis, 2010), pp. 50–52.
- Chung, M. C., & Hyland, M. E., History and Philosophy of Psychology (Hoboken: Wiley-Blackwell, 2012), p. 66.
- Sosa, E., Steup, M., & Dancy, J., eds., A Companion to Epistemology (Hoboken: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010), p. 308.
- Dicker, G., Descartes: An Analytical and Historical Introduction (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013), p. 16.
- Nadler, S., Schmaltz, T. M., & Antoine-Mahut, D., eds., The Oxford Handbook of Descartes and Cartesianism (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019), p. 83.
- Scruton, ibid., p. 56.
Further reading
- Cottingham, Stoothoff, and Murdoch, trans. (1984). The Philosophical Writings of Descartes. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Janet Broughton, Descartes's Method of Doubt, Princeton University Press, 2002.
- Edwin M. Curley, Descartes against the Skeptics, Harvard University Press, 1978.
- François-Xavier de Peretti. "Stop Doubting with Descartes". Topoi, Springer Nature (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11245-022-09822-0
- François-Xavier de Peretti, « Descartes sceptique malgré lui ? », International Journal for the Study of Skepticism, 11 (3), 2021, Brill, Leyde, pp. 177–192. Online publication date: 15 octobre 2020. Doi:https://doi.org/10.1163/22105700-bja10016
External links
- Klein, Peter. "Skepticism". In Zalta, Edward N. (ed.). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
- Newman, Lex. "Descartes' Epistemology". In Zalta, Edward N. (ed.). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
- Skirry, Justin. "René Descartes (1596—1650): Overview". Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
- Descartes, René. (1641). Meditations on First Philosophy. In Cottingham, et al. (eds.), 1984.
- Cartesian doubt at PhilPapers
- Dictionary of Philosophy of Mind
Cartesian doubt is a form of methodological skepticism associated with the writings and methodology of Rene Descartes March 31 1596 February 11 1650 88 Cartesian doubt is also known as Cartesian skepticism methodic doubt methodological skepticism universal doubt systematic doubt or hyperbolic doubt Cartesian doubt is a systematic process of being skeptical about or doubting the truth of one s beliefs which has become a characteristic method in philosophy 403 Additionally Descartes method has been seen by many as the root of the modern scientific method This method of doubt was largely popularized in Western philosophy by Rene Descartes who sought to doubt the truth of all beliefs in order to determine which he could be certain were true It is the basis for Descartes statement Cogito ergo sum I think therefore I am A fuller version of his phrase dubito ergo cogito cogito ergo sum translates to I doubt therefore I think I think therefore I exist Sum translated as I exist per various Latin to English dictionaries presents a much larger and clearer meaning to the phrase Methodological skepticism is distinguished from philosophical skepticism in that methodological skepticism is an approach that subjects all knowledge claims to scrutiny with the goal of sorting out true from false claims whereas philosophical skepticism is an approach that questions the possibility of certain knowledge 354 CharacteristicsCartesian doubt is methodological It uses doubt as a route to certain knowledge by identifying what can t be doubted The fallibility of sense data in particular is a subject of Cartesian doubt There are several interpretations as to the objective of Descartes skepticism Prominent among these is a foundationalist account which claims that Descartes skepticism aims to eliminate all belief that it is possible to doubt thus leaving only basic beliefs also known as foundational beliefs 64 65 From these indubitable basic beliefs Descartes then attempts to derive further knowledge It s an archetypal and significant example that epitomizes the Continental Rational schools of philosophy 6 Mario Bunge argues that methodological skepticism presupposes that scientific theories and methods satisfy certain philosophical requirements idealism materialism realism rationalism empiricism and systemics that the data and hypotheses of science constitute a system TechniqueDescartes method of hyperbolic doubt included 67 70 Accepting only information you know is true Breaking down these truths into smaller units Solving the simple problems first Making complete lists of further problems Hyperbolic doubt means having the tendency to doubt since it is an extreme or exaggerated form of doubt 115 Knowledge in the Cartesian sense means to know something beyond not merely all reasonable doubt but all possible doubt In his Meditations on First Philosophy 1641 Descartes resolved to systematically doubt that any of his beliefs were true in order to build from the ground up a belief system consisting of only certainly true beliefs his end goal or at least a major one was to find an undoubtable basis for the sciences Consider Descartes opening lines of the Meditations Several years have now elapsed since I first became aware that I had accepted even from my youth many false opinions for true and that consequently what I afterward based on such principles was highly doubtful and from that time I was convinced of the necessity of undertaking once in my life to rid myself of all the opinions I had adopted and of commencing anew the work of building from the foundation Descartes Meditation I 1641Descartes methodRene Descartes the originator of Cartesian doubt 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 33 36 The dream argument Descartes knowing that the context of our dreams while possibly unbelievable are often lifelike hypothesized that humans can only believe that they are awake 353 368 There are no sufficient grounds to distinguish a dream experience from a waking experience For instance Subject A sits at the computer typing this article Just as much evidence exists to indicate that the act of composing this article is reality as there is evidence 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 538 But when I distinctly see where things come from and where and when they come to me and when I can connect my perceptions of them with the whole of the rest of my life without a break then I am quite certain that when I encounter these things I am not asleep but awake Descartes Selected Philosophical Writings 122 The Evil Demon Descartes reasoned that our very own experience may very well be controlled by an evil demon of sorts This demon is as clever and deceitful as he is powerful He could have created a superficial world that we may think we live in As a result of this doubt sometimes termed the Malicious Demon Hypothesis Descartes found that he was unable to trust even the simplest of his perceptions 66 In Meditation I Descartes stated that if one were mad even briefly the insanity might have driven man into believing that what we thought was true could be merely our minds deceiving us He also stated that there could be some malicious powerful cunning demon that had deceived us preventing us from judging correctly 308 Descartes argued that all his senses were lying and since your senses can easily fool you his idea of an infinitely powerful being must be true since that idea could have only been put there by an infinitely powerful being who would have no reason for deceit 16 I think therefore I amWhile methodic doubt has a nature one need not hold that knowledge is impossible to apply the method of doubt 83 Indeed Descartes attempt to apply the method of doubt to the existence of himself spawned the proof of his famous saying Cogito ergo sum I think therefore I am That is Descartes tried to doubt his own existence but found that even his doubting showed that he existed since he could not doubt if he did not exist 56 See alsoPhilosophy portalAcademic skepticism Bracketing phenomenology Clinical equipoise Egocentric predicament Incontrovertible evidence Suspension of judgment Solipsism Theory of justificationReferencesScruton Roger 2004 Modern Philosophy An Introduction and Survey London England Pimlico Books pp 39 50 ISBN 9781844131068 Leiber Justin ed 2001 A Philosophical Glossary PDF Houston Texas University of Houston p 88 Marmysz John 2012 The Path of Philosophy Truth Wonder and Distress Boston Massachusetts Wadsworth p 403 Guite Haulian 2017 Confessions of a Dying Mind The Blind Faith Of Atheism London England Bloomsbury Publishing p 354 ISBN 978 9386432216 Rockmore T On Foundationalism A Strategy for Metaphysical Realism Lanham MD Rowman amp Littlefield 2005 pp 64 65 Broughton J Descartes s Method of Doubt Princeton Princeton University Press 2002 p 6 Bunge Mario Summer 1992 The Scientist s Skepticism Skeptical Inquirer Amherst New York Center for Inquiry pp 377 380 Archived from the original on 12 September 2021 Retrieved 12 September 2021 Griffith J Fable Method and Imagination in Descartes London Palgrave Macmillan 2018 pp 67 70 Skirry 2006 p 115 Scruton R 2012 Modern Philosophy An Introduction and Survey Bloomsbury Publishing pp 33 36 ISBN 978 1 4482 1051 0 Stone J Dreaming and Certainty Philosophical Studies 45 1983 pp 353 368 Scruton R Modern Philosophy An Introduction and Survey London Penguin Books 1994 p 538 Descartes Rene 1988 02 26 Descartes Selected Philosophical Writings Cambridge University Press p 122 ISBN 9780521358125 Revonsuo A Consciousness The Science of Subjectivity Milton Park Taylor amp Francis 2010 pp 50 52 Chung M C amp Hyland M E History and Philosophy of Psychology Hoboken Wiley Blackwell 2012 p 66 Sosa E Steup M amp Dancy J eds A Companion to Epistemology Hoboken Wiley Blackwell 2010 p 308 Dicker G Descartes An Analytical and Historical Introduction Oxford Oxford University Press 2013 p 16 Nadler S Schmaltz T M amp Antoine Mahut D eds The Oxford Handbook of Descartes and Cartesianism Oxford Oxford University Press 2019 p 83 Scruton ibid p 56 Further readingCottingham Stoothoff and Murdoch trans 1984 The Philosophical Writings of Descartes Cambridge Cambridge University Press Janet Broughton Descartes s Method of Doubt Princeton University Press 2002 Edwin M Curley Descartes against the Skeptics Harvard University Press 1978 Francois Xavier de Peretti Stop Doubting with Descartes Topoi Springer Nature 2022 https doi org 10 1007 s11245 022 09822 0 Francois Xavier de Peretti Descartes sceptique malgre lui International Journal for the Study of Skepticism 11 3 2021 Brill Leyde pp 177 192 Online publication date 15 octobre 2020 Doi https doi org 10 1163 22105700 bja10016External linksKlein Peter Skepticism In Zalta Edward N ed Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Newman Lex Descartes Epistemology In Zalta Edward N ed Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Skirry Justin Rene Descartes 1596 1650 Overview Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy Descartes Rene 1641 Meditations on First Philosophy In Cottingham et al eds 1984 Cartesian doubt at PhilPapers Dictionary of Philosophy of Mind Portals PhilosophyPsychology