Essay Sample: The Idea Of Skepticism In Descartes' Philosophy

I chose to discuss something that I have experienced before and something that have crossed my mind a few times before. In this paper, I will look deeply into an argument made from a week’s lecture that sparked my interest. Many ideas that we have learned in Philosophy were mostly new ideas or ones that I had not put much thought into. Although, some of the ideas that I have encountered before, I had found a few arguments with. One discussion and chapter that stuck out to me was week five’s lecture. (Thesis Statement)

Cartesian Skepticism is the idea around that week’s topic with some discussions including Descartes and Global Skepticism. I picked this idea since I have encounter and experienced some of what Descartes explained, and have researched into some of the ideas that were brought up in the discussions. My argument in this discussion is Descartes and his Global skepticism; I chose to argue against us not knowing if we are being deceived, thusly us not knowing anything. I chose to reject that point in some ways since there are people and events that prove we are present in the universe and that it is possible to know that we do, for example, possess a hand. I had mentioned before on some problems that Descartes makes if one was to really believe what he was saying. In other words, I’m skeptical on some of what Descartes was inferring about when explaining that even his senses can deceive him. Cartesian Skepticism is the problem of showing and explaining how it is possible to have knowledge of external things, when we cannot know for sure without a doubt that our external environment is even truly what we see. Another small argument with Descartes is his famous quote, “I think; therefore I am.” With this thought, it seems that Descartes is saying that because he thinks he must exist. I would change the perspective of that thought, by saying that because we have thoughts of us existence, we can actually take solace in knowing that what we experience is reality. Getting back to the originally argument, to help someone understand this phenomenon, I would suggest them to watch The Matrix or even Inception, Alice in Wonderland, Fight Club, Sucker Punch, and Gamer. (In some of these movies, the character already knows that they are living in a fake or alternate reality, so that isn’t exactly the same, but still a good watch. Some display how objective reality is as well.)

These movies all have a common theme; a character that seems to be living in a world that is different from what they are really living, most of them unknowing of this until a secondary action happens that give them doubt. This is where some of Descartes idea of skepticism comes in; how do we truly know that we are living what we seem to be experiencing? Can we trust our external senses? Descartes believed that we cannot have any knowledge or know about anything in the physical world if we cannot know if we are all being lied to, tricked, or deceived. In the movies I referenced above, many of the characters realize that they are being deceived and tricked into believing in a false world. So, some can say that Descartes view had an effect on some of our modern movies, which most of these movies have an eerie plot line and feeling. I think these cultural films have had an impact on some individuals and how they think when it comes to considering our existence. Like mentioned briefly in the beginning, I have encountered many instances where I had felt deeply connected to being and energies, where there was a sense that we are present in the universe. This deep feeling and the collective societies that support this, is even more proof that we are living our experiences in the moment of reality. I agree that yes, there is no real way of truly knowing if the reality that we are living is a true depiction of what is really going on, but would counter with that we are still able to decipher between being certain about something that is real or not.

 I would frame the argument that I am making as follows:

P1.) If we are unable to know if we are not being tricked by another being, then we are not certain that we have a hand.

P2.) We are unable to know if we are not being tricked by another being.

C1.) Then we are not certain that we have a hand.

I chose to argue against P1. There has been a long existing world, that has a record of human development and the rise of human culture. If this manipulation had occurred, evidence of a dramatic change would have happened or societies would have become stagnant as a result from the removal of human will. We have centuries full of influential events and people. These centuries were full of wars, cultures, philosophers, writers, etc. To many spiritual leaders, humans are even able to sense many different types of energies and changes in the natural world and universe. It is safe to say that some humans would be able to sense a disruption in the energies of the world and be able to sense and feel that those energies

come from the universe.

I would also argue that we can rely on some of our senses to determine our reality. Descartes claimed that even if we experience something tangible, we are not sure of what it is and if it is some elaborate trick that is being played. An example of this skepticism is that Descartes truly cannot tell if he has a hand because he could be deceived into thinking he has a hand, or many other situations. I agree, but I believe we can make inferences to discover what the cause was in the world that we perceive. My argument is that we can still rely on our senses to make critical decisions that may need to be made in the moment. If I can feel and operate my hand, then in my reality, I have a hand. Humans that have a heightened strength in awareness would have no issues with being able to sense their own body and the energy that is generated from it. Global Skepticism is where we are not able to know if something is true or false. How do we have knowledge of something we have not experienced in life for ourselves. I do not agree with that idea either, I believe that we can know if some things are true or not. Such as, touching a flame with your hand will result in pain. Mathematics is another good example of disproving if we know if something is true or false. We know that 2 plus 2 has to equal 4, it is just a fact.  

I believe that we can trust our senses, even if something we sense is not what we think it is. The point is, we can use our senses to determine that we are experiencing the real world. Even if we are to experience something paranormal, we are still relying on our senses. An objection to our senses being true to us is the use of drugs. Some drugs may alter what we sense, but without ingesting those drugs, we would not have an altered state of reality. This objection only makes it known that yes there may be reality altering drugs, but only if those are added to a human. Other than that, people can trust that they are experiencing the real world in the universe.

Like I stated, I’m skeptical on some of what Descartes was inferring about when it comes to his senses and how we are to know what is truly real and what is not there. I believe that our senses ground us to the world, and helps us see and understand what we are experiencing. We can assume that when we go to grab a pencil, that we are really reaching out, grabbing the pencil, and using the muscles in our hand and the controls in our brain to do that exercise. We do have ways in knowing that we are truly experiencing reality by using our senses as humans and even accessing our third eye, which is a higher plane of awareness, to know that we are certain of what actions we have made and will make. In many cultures, humans have a third eye that allows them to be on whole different planes in our world, which in turn connects us deeper to the world, becoming more “down to Earth”.

Maybe in one of the movies that were made, we can entertain the idea that we all live in small pods, connected to wires that makes us experience an alternate reality. This idea seems like exactly what they were made into, movies. A fun, eerie, and somewhat lifechanging plot line, that messes with the idea of humans being trapped in a stimulated world. I do not believe humans are weak enough to allow our “sixth sense”, third eye, or sense of being that connected to the world and living things around us can even be altered by an external force. In this moment now, I can see my feelings, thoughts, and senses, as a third person, sitting and watching the body that I reside in. I can see the senses and thoughts that I can in contact with, simply deciding what to ignore and what to      react to. This ability and control are evidence that our senses are very real, and they are used for us to maneuver throughout this world. Our senses are an apparatus for us to get through this shared world, so they are there and they are real. Descartes believed that this ability meant that we cannot have stable evidence that we are currently not being deceived, but in my eyes this ability grants us even more possibilities to the human psyche. I do not believe that we are being deceived, more of that we do not yet possess the knowledge of our Being and our origins.

Are we a part of something bigger? Is our soul completely separate from our thoughts?