Term Paper on "Rene' Descartes, Discourse on Method"

Term Paper 7 pages (2253 words) Sources: 1+

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Rene' Descartes

Descartes, Discourse on Method and Meditations on First Philosophy demonstrates that Descartes wishes to compartmentalize the philosophy of the sciences into a learnable skill through offering the reader an outline of ability and then method. The work, according to the author Discourse on Method can be broken down into six parts.

In the first there are various considerations touching the sciences. The second contains the principal rules of the method the author has been seeking, and the third some of those rules of morality which he has derived from his method. The fourth part gives the reasons by which he proves the existence of God and of the human soul which are the foundation of his metaphysics. In the fifth part the author sets out the order of the problems in physics which he has examined, and makes particular reference to the explanation of the movement of the heart, to various other difficulties which belong to the science of medicine, and to the difference there is between the human and the animal soul. Finally, in the sixth part, the author explains what he thinks he requires in order to make further progress in his researches, and gives his reasons for writing.

Following these six parts, his Meditations furthers the ideas found in the fourth part as a way to detail the manner in which he himself has utilized method to make conclusions.

Method begins by asserting, in short that all men are created equal, but that they must train these innate abilities to better understand the world, the sciences and their own reason. Descartes idea of the equality of the mind, claiming that within each mind is reason, which he describes as common sense. His argument is that each individual possesses the ability and any discrepancies occur when one is unable to utilize the proper method to further his or her ideas. In other words according to Descartes each man is innately gifted with reason and must then learn method to allow such reason to prevail in his thoughts and actions.

The challenge to the modern reader is that understanding the many aspects of culture that play a part in reason can realistically alter the application of such reason and obviously lead to varied results, regarding the same question. This to me is proof that though Descartes may recognize that ability is universal it does not take into consideration the many aspects of the mind and environment that make tools such as Descartes outline only partly universal in application. To counter the application of ability Descartes, states that all individuals wishing to fully utilize method to build reason they must set aside education, and instead follow the process of observation and trust innate reason.

Descartes, to some degree challenges education as the great leveling factor. He states that if one is able to set aside assumptions made from other people's historical reasoning and tradition then he is then able to fully understand the world, using only the reasoning skills god gave him and the observation he makes through travel, observation and experience. Again the modern reader can be challenged in that when observations of culture are made through travel, though many aspects of universality of the mind it is not logical to believe that one will gain any more than the basic understanding that most human are seeking the same answers but the means are still clearly different, as each culture demonstrates a logical ascension to linear knowledge and allows learning of the past to drive ideas of the present and assumptions of the future. Setting aside all the learning of the past may give the individual a better sense of the world and of his individual abilities but it is also likely to make him or her an outcast to traditional learning, and therefore someone who is not seen as a scholar, but as someone who is to weak in ability to let reason guide what aspects of historical knowledge apply to his current goals of learning and what must be discarded as false assumptions based on previous historical ideas or the culture of the past. One would assume that there are many aspects of learning that require discerning application of historical reasoning and would benefit from it and it is therefore difficult to believe that each person will or should set aside all that has been learned before him and basically begin anew. This may be a reasonable ethic for some inquiry, but from historical reasoning one can also glean ideas for challenging assumptions that have been made in the past and without reading and understanding such information the modern reader, even in Descartes time would have been lacking the ability to understand why such assumptions are made if for no other reason than to challenge them. Descartes speaks of the "false sciences" or philosophy that came before him that demonstrates a significant tie to tradition and assumption and asks the reader to set such knowledge aside, or never pick it up in the first place, yet this reader would be challenged, in the modern not to understand the ideas of the past, especially with regard to science in order to challenge them today.

It would be irresponsible, in fact in the modern world not to understand the opposition, in order to better understand why apposing views are incorrect or what might be missing within them that makes them follow an illogical path. In short if one were to use Descartes method and set aside all scientific learning, right or wrong that came before him or her then the world of thought would have to be built anew with each generation of scholar, and in fact Descartes' Method would likely be lost in a sea of works that were not acceptable reading, as they are based on historical and traditional assumptions about the world and the mind.

In his second chapter he atones that the setting aside of false assumptions is a personal quest rather than a universal law, and he uses mathematics to apply this reasoning. The challenge then again to the modern reader is that mathematics may be an example of a science that is effective in the utilization of his rule of eliminating historical bias and tradition, but that this is an isolated truth, relegated to only a few aspects of science. Social science as apposed to what would be called "hard science" (mathematics, medicine...) cannot be removed entirely from the realm of culture and history and it would seem unwise to do so. Nor can social science be understood through an application of "hard science" as social actions of groups and individuals are not predictable by utilizing the laws of mathematics. In the third chapter of the book his answer is to apply his form of "natural laws" to reason, in an attempt to counter the erasure of tradition from his or her goals.

In this set of rules, he begins by adding the laws of man and religion back to the equation of rebuilding. To the modern reader, this adding back of this aspect of thought would seem a contradiction, as the goal of science has been to some degree to divorce itself from religion and tradition, in a secular form. Descartes links religion to morality, what we would call a scientific ethic today. Through this link the argument may be one simply of semantics, as what we call ethic today is the secular form of what guided morality (religion) in the past. His second maxim, was to remain resolute and follow one path to its conclusion. His third to attempt mastery over himself, as apposed to seeking mastery over fortune; "to try to alter my desires rather than the course of the world, and in general to accustom myself to the belief that there is nothing that lies wholly within our power save our thoughts"

His final maxim (as he titles his rules of ethic or natural laws) was to employ himself to this and only this vocation, finding his own truths. The modern reader would be challenged to do so given that most are not independently wealthy and therefore must interact with some other vocation to maintain his or her goals. It is likely that the same could be said of Descartes' time and it would therefore seem that any attempt to make money to buy food per se would be a challenge to this maxim and therefore unobtainable, for anyone.

The fourth chapter of Method describes Descartes metaphysical journey, as he discovers the certainty his own existence, the certainty of the existence of God. This journey is probably the most challenging in the work, as is detailed by the fact that Meditations was written to further the explanations of this first philosophy. For Descartes the core of human reasoning was to first determine one's surety of existence and the existence of the higher power to find his or her place in the universe. The famous adage, "I think,… READ MORE

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