Another Philosphy Post

I have now read an excerpt from Descartes. Descartes makes me very happy. (We ought to include him in Andrewstovia.)

He starts by doubting everything, even those things that seem quite reasonable to believe in. Our senses may deceive us. We may be dreaming. But, even if this is a dream, we are thinking.

Now, I had heard the phrase, "I think, therefore, I am." before. But I hadn't explored all the logic before. It is simply irrefuteable. Even if we concede that evolution is true, and we were not capable of rational, self-aware thought before, we are now. There's nothing you can do about it. If you try to refute it, it's most definitely YOU refuting it.

Now, the next step: Descartes says that every effect must have a cause; every thought must have something behind it. I don't think you can either affirm or deny this solely on the basis of deductive reasoning. Either one must accept that thoughts are somehow "just there," or one must accept that they have causes. Having decided to accept that thoughts have causes, we can now proceed with his argument. If we can conceive of infinity, or an infinite being such as God, there must be such an entity. (Try thinking of something that doesn't exist - the best you can do is rearrange existing parts.) Alternately, if we can conceive of perfection, a perfect entity must be there, also possessing the perfect quality of existence itself.

Having established God as an existing perfect and infinite being, Descartes goes on to reason that perfection would not establish imperfection - i.e., God would not allow us to be deceived in thinking an "intuition" true when it is false. Thus we can understand mathematical concepts, and perceive corporeal objects.

And here we have the world. Isn't it reassuring that it exists, after all?