Explain how Descartes represents a new philosophical beginning Essay

Explain how Descartes represents a untested philosophical beginning - Es conjecture ExampleIn mathematics, we encounter secure certainty, according to Descartes. (Kitcher, 2006, p. 482) His search for this absolute certainty in the field of philosophy begins with a radical rejection of all beliefs, perceptions and assumptions and a completely dope page on which he attempts to build up a new logical train of thought. This newspaper publisher considers the steps that Descartes takes to distance himself from traditional ways of thinking and the nature of his radical new approach. The starting loony toons that Descartes chooses is in keeping with the religious conventions of the time, since he addresses his work to those Most Wise and Distinguished men, the Deans and Doctors of the Faculty of unspeakable Theology of Paris (Descartes, p. 484) and he quotes the Bible and the Lateran Council of 1512-1517 to show that he is familiar with matters of the faith. His use of radical skepti cism is presented as different approach to both physical and metaphysical problems and he implies that his intention is to follow a path of discovery which will be different from, but not contradictory to, articles of faith which ar taught by the established Christian Church. Since the turn of the seventeenth century the Medieval mind-set of the Church had been bad shaken, first by the reformation and consequent debates and schisms across Europe, and secondly by a whole army of scientific discoveries that raised interesting questions about mans place in the universe. Nowadays we previse this major shift in world view the Enlightenment. In the first section of his treatise Descartes applies his radical scepticism to religion and science alike, suspending all that he has been taught, and coming down to the fundamental observation that the human universe is made of two separate substances the mind, which is immaterial and capable of thinking, and the body, which is corporal and c apable of using the physical senses to drudge and interact with the world. He considers how unreliable the senses are, and concludes that the only thing that he is absolutely certain of, is the fact that he is thinking with his mind. Body, senses and everything else are laid to one side and he concentrates on this thinking part of himself. In the second section he formulates his most famous saying cogito ergo sum I think, accordingly I am (Descartes, p. 492) which shows that existence is derived from thinking, and not from anything outside the self that is thinking. This is a big departure from the teachings of the Church, which had traditionally placed itself in the role of teacher and authority on all matters. Thanks to the reformation in that location was a much greater focus on the individual(a), and Descartes latches on to this to stress both the mental action at law that human beings are capable of, but also the fact that we are self-aware when we are assiduous in this a ctivity. All that exists around that thinking self is an illusion, and the only absolutely certain thing is the individual and his ability to understand and to reason. The third section elaborates this point I am a thing that thinks, that is to say a thing that doubts, affirms, denies, understands a few things, is ignorant of many things, refrains from willing, and also imagines and senses.