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Question: What was Descartes trying to show by using his method of doubt!?
Yeah!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
The whole point of the Meditations is to find something that is completely immune to doubt, i!.e!. something that is certain, and then rebuild our knowledge from this certain foundation!. The only way to do this is to analyse each belief and discover if they can be doubted, even if the doubt itself seems hyperbolic!. By taking doubt to its most extreme, we are in a better position to judge if something is certain or not, since even the slightest, and perhaps most outlandish, doubt entails that whatever is being discussed is not in fact certain!. That which is certain is, as I said, immune from any doubt whatsoever!.

This is how he eliminates sensory perceptions and the external world as candidates for certainty, since they are easily doubted!. It is also how he shows that we cannot be sure that we are not being deceived by some Evil Demon!. It is the Evil Demon that is the pinnacle of his hyperbolic method - it is as extreme as doubt can be!. So, if Descartes could find something that is resistant to doubt, even in the case of an Evil Demon actually existing, then he has found a certainty!.

also important is the relationship between the method and skepticism!. Descartes effectively adopts the most extreme skeptical stance possible, and yet seemingly still finds a certainty!. So, in adopting a skeptical position, Descartes seems to find a response to skepticism - that's problematic for skeptics!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

That most ideas can be refuted but some are irrefutable!.

also, that he enjoyed cabin holidays!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

if you make this more clarified i can help you!. I just read descartes in my philosophy class, but Im not exactly sure what you are asking!. Www@QuestionHome@Com

You mean the whole "evil genius" thing!?

Lol, I swear that guy was on something!.Www@QuestionHome@Com