Descartes's Method of Attaining Universal Knowledge

Descartes is a guy who studied one of the best schools of Europe while he was going through every book that he could lay his hand. Also he travelled a lot and observed so many different cultures and life styles. However, according to him these are not such excuses not to be an ignorant. In addition he makes things dramatic and says:

“When one takes too much travelling, one eventually becomes a stranger in one’s own country; and when one is too curious about what commonly took place in past ages, one usually remains quite ignorant of what is taking place in one’s own country”(4).

In other words, he educated well and travelled a lot and he was still describing himself as ignorant. Then he figured out these following 4 rules in order to achieve every type of certain and qualified information on the earth. The rules are:

1. Don’t accept anything that is not certain and plain
2. Break the difficulties/problems/questions into smaller parts as far as you can
3. Conduct the solution by starting from the simplest and the easiest one
4. Review your work and correct it or start all over again

In my point of view, this can be a perfect recipe for achieving scientific information. However, the ordering is wrong. First we should break apart the problem into its essential parts. Then, we can analyze all smaller problems and identify solutions for each and every single case. We shouldn’t start to solve such problems that are not simple or certain enough. We should keep dividing if such cases happen. Lastly, we should combine what we have done and review our work.

Does this recipe suits for every scientific information? Such a question can be discussed by referring physics. Consider Newtonian Physics, also known as Classical Physics. If one tries to understand the acceleration of an abject under certain forces by examining the atoms, that will create a problem, believe me. Because when we examine the atoms (SPOILER: It is not the smallest thing!), we observe other particules that are called quarks.

So on and so forth, this recipe is not the most efficient one. Indeed, it also cannot give any information about non-scientific information. Considers love, emotions.

Murder of King Duncan

Check out for amazing scene of Macbeth from Patrick Stewart

Descartes' Dreams

Hi guys!

While I was searching a little bit on Descartes' life, I found something interesting to share with you all. On the night of 10 November 1619, it is said that Descartes saw three powerful dreams that he later claimed as an inluence in his life. 

In the first of these dreams, he found himself ruined and thrown down by a powerful whirlwind while walking near a college. In the second, he was awoken by an inexplicable explosion-like sound in his head to see sparks coming from the stove in his room. In the third dream, he finds a great dictionary and an anthology of ancient Latin poets on his bedside table. In the latter book, he reads a verse that begins, "What path shall I follow in life?" Descartes concluded from these visions that the pursuit of science would prove to be the pursuit of true wisdom and a central part of his life's work. 

Well, this is not coming from a strong and reliable source since I searched from the internet, but it makes sense that he influenced what he experienced in his life to choose his own path. What do you think about these dreams?

Process of Modernity

Question of modernity vs. crisis led me think that common issue: "more knowledge brings more issues". So we have to understand modernity better, it's not a one and done thing, it's a process based on science. It still  struggles with religion mostly but it has changed the perception apparently in the West where people learned the facts about religion and accepting them as outside value while East is still very much influenced by religious streams. As Descartes did, we should leave that traditions, experiences behind us to think clearly.

On this page blogger tried to summarize  process of modernity in light of Leo Strauss' essay with significant names, one is familiar to us "Machiavelli" mentioned as trigger of "first wave of modernity" but there is no last. Well worth reading for better understanding.

We think, therefore, numbers are.

Numbers, they're not physical things, they don't interact with us.  They are things we construct with our minds to control our thoughts.  Plato thought things like law, etc exists only in minds of people. They are ideas.  But when did math start to exists commonly in all of our minds?  Who invented it? Or did anyone invented it?  And simply saying math is found in the nature, it existed all along is just a getaway answer, nobody wants that.  I'm talking about the concept in our minds.  This link to a video explains all very well in my opinion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vA2cdHLKYB8

Descartes' and Plato's Ontological Views

As you would remember from HUM111, Plato was an idealist philosopher. That is to say, he thought other than our physical world that we perceive through our senses, there exists a metaphysical world -or universe- where "the true forms" of beings exist which only those who philosophize could reach. If you don't remember that, you can go and re-read The Cave Allegory in The Republic book VII. After reading Descartes a little bit, I saw some parallels with him and Plato. Descartes also thought humans should not trust their senses, and scientific picture of the world should be perceived with mathematics. Additionally, Descartes thought humans can have knowledge of what is appearant, but the foremost goal of humans is to penetrate behind the appearance and acquire general principles of beings (physical laws, for example).

What do you think? Do you think Descartes had been influenced by Plato? I do think these parallels does not seem coincidental, and Descartes is highly influenced by Plato!

Descarte's Modesty

Hi guys,

We have started discussing importance and the works of Descartes this week. I think Descartes did huge things in terms of improving society. Instead of believing in the restrictions of Catholic France, he decided to move to a more liberal enviroment. When we consider the pressure of the church among people in terms of science and improvement, it is inevitable that Descarte's works of math is a mile stone for all humanity. He has found such vital terminologies that we still use in our classes such as Cartesian Coordinate System. Furthermore, his studies on polynomials that cover the rules of the sign has broaded the perspective of other scientist who found the general solution of a given polynomial. When we consider all these facts, I think he is being modest by calling himself as a "regular person". Because he performed things that are really hard to achieve and contribute to society at that times.