1. DESCARTES MEDITATION 1

2. René Descartes 1596-1650

3. TROUBLED TIMES Plagues Witchcraft Heretics Religious wars New world New science Copernicanism

4. Descartes is a mathematician inventor of metric geometry “hence” a rationalist Cartesian coordinates wants to create place for new science

5. METHOD OF DOUBT IF something is uncertain (= possibly false)  THEN treat it as though it were false. NOTE WELL! The Method of Doubt does not amount to an argument that everything Descartes, or you, formerly believed is false.

6. Three Arguments for Doubt 1. Deceit of the senses 2. Dreaming 3. Malicious Demon aka “Evil Demon”

7. Argument from Deceit of the Senses i) Sometimes I have been deceived by my senses. ii) Therefore: it is possible that my senses tells me falsehoods. SO: I shall treat what my senses tell me as false. (Method of Doubt)

8. Dream Argument i) It is possible that any test that shows I am awake is itself merely a dream. ii) Therefore: it is possible I am dreaming now. SO: I shall treat what I now experience as though it were a dream.

9. Malicious Demon Argument i) It is possible for God to deceive me even about a priori truths. ii) It is possible God allows me to be deceived about the a priori. SO: I shall suppose a Malicious Demon is deceiving me

10. METHOD OF DOUBT Has Descartes gone too far with DOUBT ?????