What Do You Believe?
In 2019, I took a psychology class. It was a very interesting and complex subject. However, as the class went along, I began to grasp certain things about human life, thoughts and reality. One of the assignments was to select a topic to develop an argument. I wrote an essay regarding Rene Descartes' philosophical views about innate ideas and the knowledge through God. I received an "A" on the essay below:
For this assignment, I will discuss my belief that Descartes’ Cogito arguments concerning God, human existence and knowledge itself is somewhat of a successful argument. I will begin by constructing the argument, followed by discussion of its significance. Next, I will discuss reasons the argument is successful. I will then consider possible objections to my beliefs and how I would respond to them. Lastly, I will summarize the contents of this paper, showing what has been accomplished by my analysis.
Descartes wanted to find a philosophical determination for the evidence of knowledge. He wrote a book of steps know as Meditations on First the Philosophy, six meditations he himself experienced and recorded his thoughts. Doing so, he affirmed that he did exist and thus, so does God. He also wanted to find out if there was evidence of knowledge that was certain, and without doubt. However, doubt (or skepticism) could be used as a tool to determine the certainty of knowledge and truth. One of the first things Descartes does is break down knowledge of the world through sense perception and how doubt could affect one’s belief of what is true. Descartes then discusses the difference between a “thinking” substance verses a “material” substance. Though different, he believed, they are one in the same because they both exist within us (as being human), which is known as mind-body dualism.
My Argument
First, I agree with Descartes, to a degree. I do believe that we exist because we think, which is God given. However, I believe most of what we think comes from prior knowledge through experience. I’m unsure about how we thought as a baby entering the world. Were we able to think about things that we haven’t had the opportunity to experience yet? I’m not sure there is an answer for this question, especially if we cannot recollect having thoughts while we were in our mother’s womb or even as an infant. We can compose thoughts in our own mind, determine what is true and what isn’t. However, we cannot “unthink” that we don’t exist, because how would we explain our ability to have thoughts in the first place? Although, our thoughts can be tainted with falsehoods provided to us, things acquired through knowledge that are not true but believe to be true. Descartes states that although most of is true, we (he) learned from senses, our senses can at times deceive us (Baird, 384). We can determine what can be considered false (or true) as we gather new information (or experiences) which contribute to our newfound knowledge and understanding. Secondly, I somewhat agree with Descartes dualism approach. In my opinion, our mental ability interacts with our physical because what we what we think is executed from our body. I believe this because our brain operates the activity of our limbs by sending signals throughout our body. Therefore, our thoughts (mind) is a separate entity from what is material because it’s not something we can see or touch. I believe our very existence is God given. He gives us the ability to think. Therefore, we do exist. On the other hand, some believe in the wonder of science to explain how these sorts of things work. Science can prove what can be seen, felt or tasted (material). But, can science explain the human existence? Or even God, for that matter? Science can provide an educated guess based on studies and investigations which can determine the likelihood of something or possible patterns from variables and mathematical calculations. Even then, nothing can be proven with 100% certainty because knowledge can change or be altered. I believe Descartes came to that conclusion as well.
Objections
Of course, there are some who do not agree with any of this. For example, one of Descartes associates (Malebranche) disagreed that physical and the mind were interactive with one another. He believed that God orchestrated everything. I believe all of our abilities come from God in the first place. On the contrary, there are people who do not believe that God exists, simply because they do not believe His existence can be proven. Others question rather material and matter even exist, as does Berkeley. He doesn’t believe that in matter because they are perceived in our mind and that nothing exists outside of the mind. I totally do not agree with his thinking because it brings everything as we know it into question. It also adds more confusion than to the basis of knowledge and truth. We can relate this to the old saying, “if a tree falls in the forest and nobody is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” If it is perceived (as Berkeley would believe) to make a sound (even though no one actually hears it) then it does. But I believe it makes a sound regardless if someone hears it or not. However, if all is perceived through God, then it does exist and is true. Yet again, only if you believe in God in the first place.
Conclusion
In closing, I have discussed some of my beliefs in contrast with Descartes ‘arguments concerning God, human existence and knowledge and the reasons I agree or disagree. I provided a few objections from other philosophers and common opinion for my analysis of Descartes arguments. I think we can all agree to disagree with our beliefs about God and human existence, the mind, knowledge, matter and what is absolutely true. How we arrive at our conclusion also differs. I feel Descartes was onto an interesting approach with his meditations and dissecting what he knew to be true. Everything that we know derives from somewhere. We may never know all the answers to why exist or how. We may not discover how we are able to have thoughts and where those thoughts come from. I believe we do exist, simply because, we exist because of God. In the words of Descartes, “I think therefore, I am.”
Reference
Baird, Forrest E. (2016) Philosophic Classics: From Plato to Derrida, 6th Edition. New York: Routledge
What do YOU believe?
For this assignment, I will discuss my belief that Descartes’ Cogito arguments concerning God, human existence and knowledge itself is somewhat of a successful argument. I will begin by constructing the argument, followed by discussion of its significance. Next, I will discuss reasons the argument is successful. I will then consider possible objections to my beliefs and how I would respond to them. Lastly, I will summarize the contents of this paper, showing what has been accomplished by my analysis.
Descartes wanted to find a philosophical determination for the evidence of knowledge. He wrote a book of steps know as Meditations on First the Philosophy, six meditations he himself experienced and recorded his thoughts. Doing so, he affirmed that he did exist and thus, so does God. He also wanted to find out if there was evidence of knowledge that was certain, and without doubt. However, doubt (or skepticism) could be used as a tool to determine the certainty of knowledge and truth. One of the first things Descartes does is break down knowledge of the world through sense perception and how doubt could affect one’s belief of what is true. Descartes then discusses the difference between a “thinking” substance verses a “material” substance. Though different, he believed, they are one in the same because they both exist within us (as being human), which is known as mind-body dualism.
My Argument
First, I agree with Descartes, to a degree. I do believe that we exist because we think, which is God given. However, I believe most of what we think comes from prior knowledge through experience. I’m unsure about how we thought as a baby entering the world. Were we able to think about things that we haven’t had the opportunity to experience yet? I’m not sure there is an answer for this question, especially if we cannot recollect having thoughts while we were in our mother’s womb or even as an infant. We can compose thoughts in our own mind, determine what is true and what isn’t. However, we cannot “unthink” that we don’t exist, because how would we explain our ability to have thoughts in the first place? Although, our thoughts can be tainted with falsehoods provided to us, things acquired through knowledge that are not true but believe to be true. Descartes states that although most of is true, we (he) learned from senses, our senses can at times deceive us (Baird, 384). We can determine what can be considered false (or true) as we gather new information (or experiences) which contribute to our newfound knowledge and understanding. Secondly, I somewhat agree with Descartes dualism approach. In my opinion, our mental ability interacts with our physical because what we what we think is executed from our body. I believe this because our brain operates the activity of our limbs by sending signals throughout our body. Therefore, our thoughts (mind) is a separate entity from what is material because it’s not something we can see or touch. I believe our very existence is God given. He gives us the ability to think. Therefore, we do exist. On the other hand, some believe in the wonder of science to explain how these sorts of things work. Science can prove what can be seen, felt or tasted (material). But, can science explain the human existence? Or even God, for that matter? Science can provide an educated guess based on studies and investigations which can determine the likelihood of something or possible patterns from variables and mathematical calculations. Even then, nothing can be proven with 100% certainty because knowledge can change or be altered. I believe Descartes came to that conclusion as well.
Objections
Of course, there are some who do not agree with any of this. For example, one of Descartes associates (Malebranche) disagreed that physical and the mind were interactive with one another. He believed that God orchestrated everything. I believe all of our abilities come from God in the first place. On the contrary, there are people who do not believe that God exists, simply because they do not believe His existence can be proven. Others question rather material and matter even exist, as does Berkeley. He doesn’t believe that in matter because they are perceived in our mind and that nothing exists outside of the mind. I totally do not agree with his thinking because it brings everything as we know it into question. It also adds more confusion than to the basis of knowledge and truth. We can relate this to the old saying, “if a tree falls in the forest and nobody is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” If it is perceived (as Berkeley would believe) to make a sound (even though no one actually hears it) then it does. But I believe it makes a sound regardless if someone hears it or not. However, if all is perceived through God, then it does exist and is true. Yet again, only if you believe in God in the first place.
Conclusion
In closing, I have discussed some of my beliefs in contrast with Descartes ‘arguments concerning God, human existence and knowledge and the reasons I agree or disagree. I provided a few objections from other philosophers and common opinion for my analysis of Descartes arguments. I think we can all agree to disagree with our beliefs about God and human existence, the mind, knowledge, matter and what is absolutely true. How we arrive at our conclusion also differs. I feel Descartes was onto an interesting approach with his meditations and dissecting what he knew to be true. Everything that we know derives from somewhere. We may never know all the answers to why exist or how. We may not discover how we are able to have thoughts and where those thoughts come from. I believe we do exist, simply because, we exist because of God. In the words of Descartes, “I think therefore, I am.”
Reference
Baird, Forrest E. (2016) Philosophic Classics: From Plato to Derrida, 6th Edition. New York: Routledge
What do YOU believe?
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