The Folly of René Descartes’ Discourse on Method and...

The Folly of Renà © Descartes’ Discourse on Method and Meditations on First Philosophy In order to embark on his quest for truth, Descartes first devises his four rules which should serve as a solid foundation for all else that he comes to understand. Those rules are here evaluated in terms of what they fail to take into consideration. The rules are examined individually and consecutively, and are therefore also reiterated in order to be clear about them. Furthermore, the approach of using these rules is also analyzed to some degree. Ultimately, however, it is my conjecture that Descartes’ four rules are not as solid a foundation as he claims, but fail to consider key issues which are noted herein. Descartes’ first rule deals†¦show more content†¦For him, â€Å"the method that teaches one to follow the true order and to enumerate exactly all the circumstances of what one is seeking contains everything that gives certainty to the rules of arithmetic (12).† Still, the notion of one’s existence as proven by thought is not something which can be measured and translated into a numerical quantity. In fact, most fundamental concepts and their corresponding emotions that make up human life, such as love, are neither indubitable nor quantifiable, though are still held as being true, sometimes more than anything else. This leads me to find that the very first of Descartes’ rules is a shaky foundation at best. It asks for an acceptance of indubitable truth, and only that truth. But if this is to be indeed held as a standard, then nothing could actually be accepted with certainty. The second [rule], to divide each of the difficulties I would examine into as many parts as possible and as was required in order better to resolve them. (11) The basis of this second rule appears to be an endeavor to take a claim and examine it from all possible perspectives, and to test it against all possible situations. Neither of which is, in effect, possible. One could spend an entire lifetime looking at all the possible situations in which a claim could be contested and would not even come close to revealingShow MoreRelated Happiness in the Fourth Epistle of Alexander Popes An Essay on Man5580 Words   |  23 Pages Popes concern with human teleology in An Essay on Man also distinguish it as a distinctive piece of world view literature. According to The Design of the poem, Pope asserted that in order to understand man or any creature, it was necessary first to know what condition and relation it is placed in, and what is the proper end and purpose of its being. For Pope, drawing on a venerable ideal from antiquity onwards, the end and purpose of humanity was happiness.1 As he exclaims at the very beginningRead MoreStephen P. Robbins Timothy A. Judge (2011) Organizational Behaviour 15th Edition New Jersey: Prentice Hall393164 Words   |  1573 PagesSkills? 360 Questions for Review 360 Experiential Exercise An Absence of Nonverbal Communication 361 Ethical Dilemma Pitfalls of E-Mail 361 Case Incident 1 Using Social Media to Your Advantage 362 Case Incident 2 Should Companies That Fire Shoot First? 362 12 Leadership 367 What Is Leadership? 368 Trait Theories 369 Behavioral Theories 370 Summary of Trait Theories and Behavioral Theories 372 Contingency Theories 372 The Fiedler Model 373 †¢ Other Contingency Theories 375 Leader–Member Exchange