Descartes is one of the most famous philosophers of all time. His work which is called as Discourse on Method has his own knowledge, ideas and thoughts in terms of philosophy. His autobiographical and intellectual paths can be seen in his work. He shares his experiences and failure throughout the reading. At the same time, Descartes has an extreme radical skepticism and he doubts everything. Hegel (another significant philosopher of all times) states that "Descartes takes a step to modern philosophy and self - consciousness of philosophy due to he has critical reflections on its own conditions of possibility."
According to Descartes, people don't find the truth, they construct/build the truth. Anything is not one hundred percent certain and nobody cannot be sure whether there are eternal, unchanging truths or not. By doing this, Descartes reveals the truth that people, even himself, do not havethe capacity to decide on what is completely true or not. I agree with Descartes in this subject and I also believe that are not able to see everything clearly. It is not possible to predict the next step and to reach a total objectivity. Similar to Hegel's expression of Descartes, Descartes has the self- conscioussness due to he knows his and humans' limitations and perceptions.
Moreover, Descartes' own statements in his discourse supports Hegel's claim about him. "For myself, I have never presumed that my mind was in any respect more perfect than that of ordinary men." (Descartes, Discourse on Method, p.2) This quotation indicates that Descartes does not consider himself more capable or intelligent than any other men in the world. As well as he doubts about others' way of thinking and finding the truth, he equally doubts about himself. He accepts his own failures and thinks that he may also be mistaken in some ways.
Consequently, Descartes' critical reflections and interrogations enable us to gain his self- consciousness of philosophy and understanding our minds' limitations.
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