Descartes’ Method and Hume’s Critique: Rationalism vs. Empiricism
Comment Text: This excerpt analyzes Descartes’ Discourse on Method, focusing on the parts concerning the external world and the self. Descartes, a key figure in Western philosophy, initiated rationalism, challenging the medieval limitations on reason. Modernity, according to Descartes, empowers autonomous and secular reason to access truth. In Discourse on Method, he introduces a rational method for pursuing truth, starting with intuitively obvious truths (axioms) and deductively building complex knowledge (synthesis).
Methodical Doubt
Descartes begins with methodical doubt, rejecting anything susceptible to doubt, including sensory perceptions, the world’s existence, and mathematical reasoning.
The External World
Descartes posits a world distinct from our impressions. Locke justified this through causal inference, arguing that external reality causes our impressions. Hume, however, deems this inference invalid. He believes that the external world’s existence is merely a belief, not a certainty. This contrasts with Descartes, who accepts the res extensa as objective reality.
Key Elements of Descartes’ Method
- Evidence: Accepting only clear and distinct, indubitable truths.
- Analysis: Breaking down complex ideas into simple, intuitively true elements.
- Synthesis: Reconstructing complex knowledge from simple truths.
- Verification: Ensuring the method aligns with reason’s internal dynamics and mathematical principles.
The Self (Part Four of Discourse on Method)
Concerning the self and God’s existence, Descartes employs a causal argument. Hume rejects this, criticizing the concept of causality. Descartes views the idea of God as innate, similar to infinity and perfection. Hume denies innate ideas. The ontological argument for God’s existence, used by Descartes, is invalid for Hume. Of Descartes’ three substances (mind, body, God), this discussion focuses on the self.
Personal Identity
The existence of a substance beyond our thoughts and actions was unquestionable for Descartes and Locke. Hume extends his critique to the self. While we are aware of personal identity through successive ideas and impressions, Hume attributes this to memory, arguing that we confuse succession with identity. He considers the self a belief, not a substance. This contradicts Descartes, for whom the thinking self (“I think, therefore I am”) is the foundation of knowledge.
Methodical Doubt and Its Reasons
Descartes’ methodical doubt stems from:
- Fallacy of the Senses: Senses can be deceptive.
- Dream Argument: Dreams can feel real, blurring the lines between waking and sleeping.
- Evil Genius Hypothesis: An evil genius could deceive us about the external world.
Vocabulary
Review: Descartes uses this term to refer to previous philosophies. Reason: The foundation of human understanding. Judgment: The mental act of affirming or denying something. Clear and Distinct Perception: True and certain knowledge. Caution: A prudent approach to reasoning. Logic: A crucial discipline in philosophical training. Analysis: A method used by Greek geometers. Algebra: A branch of mathematics dealing with quantity. Syllogism: A form of deductive reasoning. Evidence: Direct apprehension of truth. Clarity: A characteristic of certainty. Distinction: Another condition for certainty. Deduction: Rigorous inference from certain knowledge. Imagination: A faculty aiding understanding. Method: A set of rules for achieving a goal. Senses: A means of acquiring knowledge. Skepticism: A doctrine denying the possibility of attaining certain knowledge. I/Self: A reality equivalent to a person, consciousness, or personal identity. Substance: A key concept in philosophy. Essence: The true nature of the self, which is thought. Ideas: Forms of thought. God: The infinite and perfect being. Soul: The thinking substance.