Descartes Summery- Sorell

       If someone were to ask you, “Who are you?”, what would your response be? Your name? Your job title? Your heritage perhaps? These are all programmed responses society has engrained in us from an early age to reply with when presented with this question, but do we really KNOW that any of these responses are true? What if your entire life you thought your name was Bob but one day you find out you were switched at birth with another baby, and your given name was really Clarance.  But more than that, what about the deeper meaning behind the question? Have you ever asked YOURSELF, “Who are you?”. We have all struggled with finding ourselves in life at some point. We go through phases, periods of searching, wanting to know exactly what our purpose here is. But few know where to start this journey from and thus fail miserably only to repeat the same broken patterns and wonder why they can never find their way. In my opinion, Rene Descartes found the starting block upon which this journey of finding absolute truth, and in turn one’s true self, begins. With the simple statement, “I think, therefore I am.”, he revolutionized philosophy and began a chain reaction which, debatably so, eventually led to the separation between church and state on his path of self discovery. But what was Descartes motivation in finding this starting point? And what did it mean to the world and how it determines knowledge given verses knowledge independently sought and learned?
Most scholars agree, Descartes work, including Discourse on Method, hints at the first signs of separating science and religion. Descartes methodology was centered around the ides of throwing out the old way of learning, which involved sitting in classrooms, believing what was being taught and never questioning the source or validity of the information, and instead going out and discovering things on your own. Read books, investigate questions, find a provable source to either confirm or deny ‘knowledge’. The underlying tone and feeling of Descartes work can be interpreted as the first intellectual to publicly, subtly yes but none the less, take a peek at what it would be like to self educate. The problem with this arises when one factors in who controls the masses and how knowledge is shared during the 17th century, which is all controlled by the church. By flirting with the notion that one can obtain truth and knowledge on their own without the aid or guidance from the church was blasphemous during this time. Yet this is the springboard in Descartes journey to finding absolute truth. Leading scholars, such as Desmond Clarke, Michelle Beyssade and Tom Sorell, agree that although Descartes was a believer in God, it was perhaps not in the sense that was popular at the time. Since his methodology leaves the door open to the possibility of an agnostic view, given his encouragement to challenge given norms, it has been speculated over the years by scholars whether Descartes’ professed belief matches his actual beliefs or not. In order to question everything and seek out absolute truth, one must also be open minded to the possibility of finding out God may not exist.All this is to say, although an unintended outcome, by posing the question of how to find absolute truth, Rene Descartes set off a chain reaction that looks to have led to the separation between science and religion.
Taking this example of obtaining knowledge independently and not blindly following others should present us with the notion that not everything we think, hear and/or learn is true. This seems up front an obvious statement however how many times has history shown us masses can be led under false pretenses just by believing what they were being told? Countless! By researching the motivation behind Descartes revolutionary mindset, perhaps we can apply his method to other areas and think more critically on the knowledge we think we possess and what we can do to actually confirm/ prove/ deny our accusations.
My hypothesis, after reading Descartes: A Very Short Introduction by Tom Sorell, is Descartes grew up in a wealthy family of lawyers and after years of being told what to think, what career path to pursue (it was assumed he would become a lawyer like the rest of his family) he decided it was time to make his own decisions, his own beliefs and find his own path which in turn helped him find himself. How are you to know who you truly are if your entire life has been force fed to you without ever exploring original thought and asking WHY you believe what you believe or are doing what you are doing? This led to the most important passage Rene Descartes contributed to philosophy, “ I think therefore I am.” This is the one absolute truth he discovered and everything which is theology grows from making it his most notorious discovery.


       Often time I’m asked why am I studying philosophy and what do I plan to do with it. I feel this topic is hugely important for everyone to actively partake in. By taking the path of self enlightenment, education, answer seeking, logical pursuits, one can ultimately come to understand bigger ideas and concepts. Do not blindly walk down the path taken by those before you and echo their travels. Find your own, discover for yourself and forget everything that has ever been ‘known’.