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A review by justinmassmann
Discourse on Method and Meditations on First Philosophy by René Descartes
4.0
I read this book to see a mind at work that is crossing from the world of dogmatism to one of reason. His documentation of how this came about in him is very detailed. In the letter of dedication Descartes explains why such a shift is needed. He states “…we must believe in God’s existence because it is taught in the Holy Scriptures, and conversely, that we must believe in the Holy Scriptures because they have come from God.” But he says that unbelievers (i.e., surely not he!) would judge this reasoning to be circular, and a reasoned argument may persuade them.
His actual method is concise, and spartanly conservative. His grounding realization is the identification of his being, which he explains anyone can achieve in themselves. He then makes other determinations as some truths become evident using his method, particularly in mathematics. “I always took the truths I clearly recognized regarding figures, numbers, or other things pertaining to arithmetic, geometry, or, in general, to pure and abstract mathematics to be the most certain of all.” Indeed, Descartes does seem to need far less explanation for this than for his reasoning for God. But he perceives a greater entity than himself from which he must be a part (rather than ideas spontaneously coming into existence).
But God to him was something arrived at from the ground up (reasoning) rather than top down (dogmatism). His concept is a being that permeates the universe and holds the superset of all ideas, in whom is “…hidden all the treasures of the sciences and wisdom...” This God is perfect, which may be an extravagant assumption, but a useful one: “... I observe also that certitude about other things is so dependent on this, that without it nothing can ever be known.” This trust that truth does exist makes all reasoning possible. “God” is his word for the thing that holds truth in the universe and reason is the way to access it. Science is therefore not a counter to God, but dependent on it. “[T]he certainty and truth of every science depends exclusively upon the knowledge of the true God.”
His actual method is concise, and spartanly conservative. His grounding realization is the identification of his being, which he explains anyone can achieve in themselves. He then makes other determinations as some truths become evident using his method, particularly in mathematics. “I always took the truths I clearly recognized regarding figures, numbers, or other things pertaining to arithmetic, geometry, or, in general, to pure and abstract mathematics to be the most certain of all.” Indeed, Descartes does seem to need far less explanation for this than for his reasoning for God. But he perceives a greater entity than himself from which he must be a part (rather than ideas spontaneously coming into existence).
But God to him was something arrived at from the ground up (reasoning) rather than top down (dogmatism). His concept is a being that permeates the universe and holds the superset of all ideas, in whom is “…hidden all the treasures of the sciences and wisdom...” This God is perfect, which may be an extravagant assumption, but a useful one: “... I observe also that certitude about other things is so dependent on this, that without it nothing can ever be known.” This trust that truth does exist makes all reasoning possible. “God” is his word for the thing that holds truth in the universe and reason is the way to access it. Science is therefore not a counter to God, but dependent on it. “[T]he certainty and truth of every science depends exclusively upon the knowledge of the true God.”