René Descartes was a famous French philosopher of the 17th century, he is even considered the father of modern philosophy. In addition to becoming a philosopher, he was a mathematician, scientist and even metaphysician. Descartes was born on March 31, 1596 in the town of Descartes in France. Descartes was born into a well-educated, upper-class family. Being part of a wealthy family, Descartes had the ability to use money however he wanted and live comfortably. Descartes never married, but he had a daughter with one of his servants. Her name was Francine and she and her mother lived with Descartes, but Descartes always introduced Francine as his niece to other people who met her. During his early years, Descartes attended school and was expected to follow in his father's footsteps to become a lawyer, but he also served in the Dutch army. After choosing not to become a lawyer and to serve longer in the military, Descartes decided to seek ways to make new discoveries in mathematics, thus fulfilling his new quest to become a mathematician. Besides mathematics, Descartes created innovative new ideas that changed the way scientists work today. He was inspired by a series of his own dreams which led him to adopt new ideas about the scientific method, analytical geometry and, of course, philosophy. Descartes also published his significant thoughts and ideas in several different books such as Discourse on Method, La Géométrie, Les Météores and La Dioptrique. In these books they contained ideas about methods, geometry, meteorology and optics. In addition to having scientific ideas and viewpoints, Descartes also faced battles that included the Church. If the Church disagreed or opposed his views, he could get into big trouble. He could have been executed by being burned alive, so he had to make sure his work also matched the views of the Church. The reason he had to make sure his work aligned with the Church was because he was a follower of Galileo's work. Galileo was sentenced to life in prison by the Church because it believed his work went against the ideals of the Church. Descartes therefore had to ensure that his work was accepted by the Church. The main focus of Descartes' philosophy was the idea of ​​skepticism. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay The first method of skepticism that Descartes uses is simply to embrace skepticism. Descartes used skepticism by simply questioning the existence of the world. “Descartes is also the originator of the famous phrase “I think therefore I exist” which has had an impact on modern philosophy.” (Khannous, Morocco World News) This means that Descartes even believed and thought about something, before any action of existing, which seems explicit in a sense. But Descartes also refutes skepticism. He refuses skepticism by doubting not only humans, but also the universe and all things that exist in the universe. There is an analogy that represents how Descartes feels when it comes to refuting skepticism: he uses the idea of ​​“bulldozers,” which means destruction. “Descartes' methodical innovation is to use demolition for constructive purposes. Where the force of a bulldozer dominates the ground, its effects are destructive. When the firmness of the ground resists the force of the bulldozer, the bulldozer can be used constructively – using it to reveal the firmness of the ground. Descartes usesthus the skeptical doubts to test the firmness of the candidates put forward for the foundations of knowledge. (Hatfield, Stanford) There is also the use of skepticism, specifically known as Cartesian skepticism. “Cartesian skepticism is about explaining how knowledge (or justified belief) of the external world is possible given the challenge is that we cannot know (or rightly believe) denials of skeptical hypotheses. With Cartesian skepticism, many doubts seem to persist, that is, they do not disappear because they will always exist in the universe. Descartes also used the idea of ​​empirical beliefs. In order to strengthen his arguments and beliefs, he uses the help of empirical research and beliefs for further support. "Descartes always gave the impression to his readers that he underestimated the importance of empirical evidence and science and that he insisted on substituting 'rational arguments' for empirical research." For this reason, many readers of Descartes are actually confused. To their confusion, Descartes replied: “What I find most strange is the conclusion of the criticism that you addressed to me, namely that what will prevent my principles from being accepted in schools is that They are not sufficiently confirmed by experience. and that I did not refute the explanations of others. Because I am surprised that, even if I have demonstrated, in particular, almost as many experiments as there are lines in my writings, and after having generally exposed my principles…” This is how Descartes uses the skepticism with forms of doubt. Descartes also aims to doubt his beliefs by using the term known as certainty. The term Descartes uses to describe this belief would be “certain foundation.” "These beliefs, restored with absolute certainty, include the existence of a body world external to the mind, the dualistic distinction between the immaterial mind and the body, and its mechanistic model of physics based on the clear ideas and distinct. geometry. With certainty, Descartes is able to prove his abilities on what it means to doubt and how there are elements of certainty that support what he believes in his ideals and writings. To explain his certainty, Descartes wrote: "Although my nature is such that, even if I perceive something very clearly and distinctly, I cannot help but believe that it is true, I am also of such a nature that I cannot can't always keep my mind fixed on the object. same thing to perceive it clearly. The memory of a judgment I previously made often comes back to me when I am no longer interested in the reasons on which I based that judgment, and other reasons may be adduced which would easily dislodge that opinion if I did not had no knowledge of it. of God. I would then never have true and certain knowledge of anything, but only unstable and changing opinions. Having certainty allows Descartes and his readers to realize that the truth is without prejudice. “Skepticism is thus overcome, according to Descartes. No matter how many skeptical challenges are raised – in fact, even if things are far worse than the most extravagant skeptic ever claimed – there is at least one fragment of true human knowledge: my perfect certainty of my own existence. From this starting point, Descartes supposed, it is also possible to gain indubitable knowledge of many other propositions. This means that Descartes does not necessarily believe that there is a God that he knows of, which therefore foreshadows the idea that Descartes is an atheist. Skepticism is lost in its meaning because there are many factors that accompany skepticism, such as disbelief and others.