![]() But what does he realize must be the case even if his senses cannot be trusted? He calls into question everything that he thinks he has learned through his senses but rests his whole system on the one truth that he cannot doubt, namely, the reality of his own mind and the radical difference between the mental and the physical aspects of the world.ĭescartes (late in our excerpt) suggests that sense experience might be like dreaming, i.e., vivid but not matching the way things really are. ![]() Therefore Descartes proposes a method of thought incorporating the rigor of mathematics but based on intuitive truths about what is real, basic knowledge which could not be wrong (like the axioms of geometry). Unfortunately, because they depend on hypotheses, they cannot tell us what is real (i.e., what the world is really like). ![]() In his Discourse on Method he expresses his disappointment with traditional philosophy and with the limitations of theology only logic, geometry and algebra hold his respect, because of the utter certainty which they can offer us. ![]() René Descartes, the celebrated mathematician and physicist, is also often considered a founder of modern philosophy, as he sought new ways to move beyond Medieval Aristoteleanism and justify the science of his day. ![]()
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