Descartes was a French mathematician and Rationalist philosopher.

He was the father of modern western

philosophy, one of the chief architects of the modern age. His ambition was to begin philosophy a-new, to
construct philosophy on solid foundation. He endeavoured to establish a philosophical system by integrating
Science, theology and ethics. His important philosophical works include discourse on method, meditations,
principles of philosophy, etc. Descartes was a major figure in 17thcentury continental rationalism, later
advocated by Spinoza and Leibniz, and opposed by the empiricist school of thought consisting of Locke,
Berkeley and Hume. Leibniz, Spinoza and Descartes were all well versed in mathematics as well as
philosophy and Descartes and Leibniz contributed greatly to science as well.

He is perhaps best known for the philosophical statement ‘cogito ergo sum’ or ‘I think, therefore I am’
found in part IV of discourse on the method. In his discourse on the method, he attempts to arrive at a
fundamental set of principles that one can know as true without any doubt. To achieve this, he employs a
method called hyperbolical /metaphysical doubt, also sometimes referred to as methodological scepticism :
he rejects any ideas that can be doubted, and then re-establishes them in order to acquire a firm foundation
for genuine knowledge. Descartes was determined to discover the basis of intellectual certainty for his own
reason. He therefore, gave philosophy a fresh start by using only those truths he could know through his own
powers as the foundation for all other knowledge.

In the modern era, the philosophical concept of Substance is first and foremost a concept of that which needs
nothing else for its existence: substance is that which has independent existence. In this primary sense,
Descartes holds that there can then be only one substance that is God. But in a secondary sense, he holds that
there are two(created) substances: mind and matter. They can be called substances because apart from the
fact that they are created by God, they have independent existence. For Spinoza, there can be only one
substance. It may be called God or nature - each of these words signifies something that we conceive of as
having independent existence.

Mind and Matter are the two aspects, called attributes by Spinoza, under which we are able to have
knowledge of what there is. Leibniz assumes a multitude of created individual substances, Monads, each of
them independent of all the others.

Cartesian Method and Certain Knowledge

The aim of Descartes is to find clear, distinct and certain knowledge in philosophy. This kind of knowledge
he finds in mathematics. It is why he wanted to build his philosophical system on the basis of mathematics
only. Descartes, being himself a great mathematician, was struck by the excellence of mathematics.
Therefore, in order to make philosophy truly scientific he hoped to make its method patterned on
mathematics. Now in geometry, we first of all start with a few self evident axioms and then reach the whole
body of its conclusions by means of simple elaborative deduction. Now in the same way in philosophy too,
he tells us, to find out a single certain point to deduce all further truths. The first task of philosophy is
analytic, the second synthetic.
Now, mathematics is based on a priori concepts. So says Descartes, that it is only a

priori concepts that can give us certain knowledge. So, for him it is the Reason; the innate ideas present in
our mind since birth, that give us certain knowledge. This makes him a rationalist thinker and as for other
rationalists, for Descartes also the sense-experiences can never give certain and genuine knowledge.

Descartes, the mathematician, says that axioms of geometry are the truest examples of certain knowledge. In
mathematics we begin with axioms or principles which are self-evident, which everyone accepts who hears
and understands them. From these principles as our starting point we deduce other propositions which
logically follow from them, and which are just as certain as the former, provided no mistake has been made
in the reasoning. That is, we begin with simple propositions that are selfevident, and pass from these to more
complex ones; our method is synthetic or deductive.

This method must be extended to philosophy. We should proceed from absolutely certain first principles,
from propositions which are clear and self-evident, and pass on to new and unknown truths which are equally
certain.

Four Rules
The method that he applies for this purpose is known as the Cartesian method. It is a method of Doubt.
Descartes, in his book Discourse on Method has discussed four broad rules of his method(Cartesian method)

• Not to accept anything as true which is not known clearly and distinctly to be true.
(Descartes believes that errors arise from poorly comprehended experiences or from hasty,
groundless and preconceived notions. The only remedy, therefore, he thinks, lies in resolute refusal
to believe in what is not clearly and distinctly perceived.)

• Divide the problem into as many simplest parts as possible.

• Commence with the simplest and then ascend step-by-step to the more complex.
(The explanation must be ordered and systematic. Here Descartes is in favour of deductive use in
philosophical thinking, for he implies that later steps should be clearly deducible from earlier ones.)

• In every case make the enumeration so complete that you may be assured that nothing is omitted.

Now Descartes applied his Method of doubt. Descartes used the method of doubt in order to find an
absolutely certain starting point for building up our knowledge. Having set out in his Rules that we should
never accept anything about which we can entertain any doubt. He says that let us doubt all that can be
doubted. It must be remembered that the purpose is to find out axioms like self-evident truth which can be
the basis of philosophy.
Firstly, he doubts the sense testimony that is the objects of daily life e.g. chair, table etc. Secondly, even the
truths of science can be doubted. At this stage, it might be objected that the truths of sciences like 2+2 = 4
cannot be doubted, even in dreams. However, the case does not seem to be quite clear. We cannot know
whether any truth of knowledge is at all intended for us finite beings; whether God has not created us rather
for mere opinion and error. Besides, who knows there might be no God at all. There might be a demon at
once potent and malignant who tricks us to believe in falsehood.

But one thing is certain, and that is that I doubt, or think; of that there can be no doubt (That I doubt cannot
be doubted). It is, indeed, a contradiction to suppose that which thinks does not exist at the very time when it
thinks. Descartes reasons logically that doubt implies a doubter, thinking a thinker, a thinking thing or
conscious substance; thus he reaches what seems to him a rational, self evident proposition. To doubt means
to think, to think means to be. And since doubting is thinking he gave his famous statement, ‘cogito ergo
sum’ - I think, therefore I am. I may doubt anything but I cannot doubt that I am doubting. Whether it be a
dream or a real consciousness, I must exist as a doubting or thinking being. Let there be a demon to deceive
me, but then I must exist as a thinking being to be deceived. Hence, I doubt or think, therefore, I exist. It is
the first and most certain knowledge that occurs to one who philosophises in an orderly manner. Descartes
considers it to be a certain self-evident starting point of his metaphysics.

Criterion of Truth

To go beyond the certainty of his own existence as a thinking being, Descartes asks again how we know
something to be true: “What, he asks, is required in a proposition for it to be true and certain?” What is there
about the proposition, Cogito ergo sum that makes it certain and evident? He concludes that it is only
because it is clear and distinct. He therefore adopts as general rule the principle: “All things that we
conceive very clearly and very distinctly are true.” In this context clear means “that which is present and
apparent to an attentive mind,” in the same way that objects are clear to our eyes, and distinct refers to “that
which is so precise and different from all objects that it contains within itself nothing but what is clear.” The
reason, the proposition I think, therefore I am, is simply that it is clear and distinct to my mind. This is the
reason, too, that mathematical propositions are true, for they are so clear and distinct that we cannot help
accepting them. But to guarantee the truth of our clear and distinct ideas, Descartes had to prove that God
exists and that He is not a deceiver who makes us think that false things are true.

Descartes concept of God

According to Descartes, God is one, ultimate, perfect and infinite being. Descartes says that there is an innate
idea of God in my mind. This idea is of a God who is perfect, omniscient and omnipresent. But the question
is, who has caused this idea ? He says that he himself is a finite being so he himself cannot be the cause of
the idea of an infinite, perfect and omnipotent God. It is so because, at least cause must be equal to the effect.
Then he answers that the cause of this idea of God is God himself. So God must exist. It is known as the
causal proof for the existence of God.
• Something cannot be derived from nothing. In other words, all effects (including ideas) are caused by
something.

• There must be at least as much reality in the cause as there is in the effect.

• I have an idea of God ( as an infinite and perfect being )

• The idea of God in my mind is an effect that was caused by something.

• I am finite and imperfect, and thus I could not be the cause of the Idea if an infinite and perfect God.

• Only an infinite and perfect being could be the cause of such an idea.

• Therefore, God (an infinite and perfect being ) exists.

He adds to this Casual proof the cosmological proof also by saying that God is the final cause of myself, my
parents and all other worldly things.

However, the most important proof is Ontological proof. This proof was given by St. Anselm. In modern
philosophy, it has been given by Descartes. It is as follows - The concept of God is the concept of a perfect
being. But a being cannot be perfect unless it exists also. So the existence of God follows from the very
concept of God. It requires no further proof. Just as three sides must follow from the very idea of a triangle,
the existence of God must follow from the very idea of Perfect God. In this way, Descartes claims that
existence is contained within the very definition or essence of a perfect being.

Mind (Self) - Body (Matter) Dualism

Descartes defines substance as “an existent thing which requires nothing but itself in order to exist.” But
this definition, if understood in a strict and literal sense, applies to God alone. In this primary sense,
Descartes holds that there can then be only one substance i.e. God. But in a secondary sense, he holds that
there are two (created) substances : Mind and Matter. They can be called substance because, apart from the
fact that they are created by God, they have independent existence.

Descartes accepts God as the absolute substance and mind and body as relative substances. The two relative
substances exist independently of one another but both depend on God. They are fundamentally different
from one another, and we know them only through their attributes. The essential characteristic or property of
substance, that which necessarily inheres in ut, is called the attribute. The attribute i.e. the most essential
quality of mind is consciousness, whereas in the case of Body it is extension. Though Mind and body are
dependent on God for their existence, in themselves they are totally different and separate.

Descartes was a dualist not only at the metaphysical level, but also at the epistemological level. He says that
we have the ideas through which we know the external world. Here he divides knowledge into ideas and the
things of which we have the ideas. This epistemological dualism was held by Locke and was severely
criticised by Berkeley. Even when Descartes talks of the qualities of the external world, he divides them into
primary and secondary ones. This division was followed by Locke but attacked by Berkeley.

Coming to the Mind - body dualism, the question that arises here is, if mind and body are totally independent
of each other, how does one react upon the other. According to Descartes there is a causal relation between
the two. Here he gives the theory of interactionism and says that mind and body react to each other through
Pineal Gland which is located in the brain and which he considers to be the seat of the soul. To further
explain the unique reason between mind and body, he gives the example of horse and horse rider and says
that just as the rider spurs on the horse to run fast with his own energy, so the mind only excites the bodily
movement without inputting its own energy into the material series.

Conclusion

In the words of Jean L. Mercier, ‘Descartes’ glory and right to be labelled as the ‘father of modern
philosophy’, is because of his concept of the COGITO. Every good thinking must begin with the thinker
himself, the truth of one’s own existence as a conscious subject.”

In his search for indubitable truth, Descartes laid greater emphasis on discovering a method than on a theory
of knowledge. Descartes was interested in discovering a method of truth rather than in a detailed discussion
of epistemological problems. For this he has recourse to mathematics and a priori ideas. Descartes was
almost a

dogmatist in his belief that the reason was competent to attain certain knowledge. Though he adopted and
studied scepticism, he was a realist enough to accept the existence of an external world, whose true nature
could be discovered only by rational thinking. Like Parmenides, Descartes placed reason before experience
and even opted for reason against experience, as is clearly the case with his anthropological dualism