Montaigne and Descartes on Doubting - 1571 Words

Diane Ihlenfeldt March 4, 2004 Philosophy 110 Montaigne and Descartes Montaigne and Descartes both made use of a philosophical method that focused on the use of doubt to make discoveries about themselves and the world around them. However, they doubted different things. Descartes doubted all his previous knowledge from his senses, while Montaigne doubted that there were any absolute certainties in knowledge. Although they both began their philosophical processes by doubting, Montaigne doubting a constant static self, and Descartes doubted that anything existed at all, Descartes was able to move past that doubt to find one indubitably certainty, I think, therefore I am. How often do we question what is real or true? Descartes†¦show more content†¦Descartes eventually managed to prove the existence of a higher being. He said that since he had the idea of a perfect being, then that perfect being must exist. His reasoning was that he, Descartes, was an imperfect being and that an imperfect being could not come up wit h the concept of a perfect being without that perfect being actually existing and giving Descartes that idea. Descartes still had to deal with many doubts. The doubt of foremost importance was the doubting of his senses, and the doubt of whether or not his body actually existed. Descartes decided that since this God was a perfect being, it must then also be a compassionate being and would not give Descartes senses and then use those senses to trick him into using those senses to determine knowledge that was not in fact true. Descartes and Montaigne did not agree in the ways in which they doubted. Descartes doubted about the existence of all knowledge, but believed that there were certainties to be found within that group of doubtable knowledge. Descartes focused on the fact that there must be at least one certainty in the world, but began this search for this certainty by methodically doubting everything that he already knew as knowledge. Montaigne decided that nothing wa s certain, regardless of how many times it was tested, because everything was constantly changing. Montaigne believedShow MoreRelated montaigne and descartes on doubting Essay example1560 Words   |  7 PagesMontaigne and Descartes nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Montaigne and Descartes both made use of a philosophical method that focused on the use of doubt to make discoveries about themselves and the world around them. However, they doubted different things. Descartes doubted all his previous knowledge from his senses, while Montaigne doubted that there were any absolute certainties in knowledge. Although they both began their philosophical processes by doubting, Montaigne doubting a constant staticRead MoreGod Is Truth Essay1409 Words   |  6 PagesMontaigne, Descartes, and Pascal all believe in a superlative truth unforeseeable through the commonly held truth of society. Montaigne states that even contradictions are not contradictions in truth (Montaigne, p.75). Not believing in the possibility of this lack contradiction in truth would be considered scepticism - scepticism being the reluctance to believe anything for any reason. This same scepticism is explained by Descartes as a self-disproving falsity by hi s quotation I think, thereforeRead More How Descartes Tries to Extricate Himself from the Skeptical Doubts He Has Raised4647 Words   |  19 PagesHow Descartes Tries to Extricate Himself from the Skeptical Doubts He Has Raised [All page references and quotations from the Meditations are taken from the 1995 Everyman edition] In the Meditations, Descartes embarks upon what Bernard Williams has called the project of Pure Enquiry to discover certain, indubitable foundations for knowledge. By subjecting everything to doubt Descartes hoped to discover whatever was immune to it. In order to best understand how and why Descartes