Descartes Skeptical Argument And Reponses By Bouwsma And...

Descartes Skeptical Argument and Reponses by Bouwsma and Malcolm In this essay, I will examine Rene Descartes skeptical argument and responses by O.K. Bouwsma and Norman Malcolm. I intend to prove that while both Bouwsma and Malcolm make points that refute specific parts of Descartes argument in their criticisms, neither is sufficient in itself to refute the whole. In order to understand Descartes argument and its sometimes radical ideas, one must have at least a general idea of his motives in undertaking the argument. The seventeenth century was a time of great scientific progress, and the blossoming scientific community was concerned with setting up a consistent standard to define what constituted science. Their science was based†¦show more content†¦More significantly, Descartes implies that all consciousness could actually be a dream state, thus proving that the senses can be doubted. The dream argument has its intrinsic problems, however. One, is that images in dreams can be described as quot;painted imagesquot;.2 In other words, a dream image is only a portrait of a real-life object, place or person. If we are dreaming then it is implied that at some point we were conscious and able to perceive these things. If we are able to perceive these things then we must admit that we have senses and that our senses are, at least in part, true. This was exactly what Descartes was trying to disprove, and it was one reason he abandoned the dream argument. The second problem with this argument is that it points to mathematics as a point of certainty. I believe Descartes best explained this in his own words: quot;[W]hether I be awake or asleep, two plus three equals five and a square does not have more than four sides: nor does it seem possible that such obvious truths can fall under the suspicions of falsity.quot;3 Even when we are dreaming, the laws of mathematics and geometry hold true, but they can not be Descartes point of certainty for a simple reason; these abilities that Descartes believed were innate still had to come from somewhere. If they are in our heads when we are born, someone had to put them there. Descartes question is who, and he comes up with