Philosophy
What Was Descartes’ Method?
It wasn’t doubt.
French philosopher René Descartes (1596–1650) is one of the few philosophers who is a household name. He is best known for the most famous quote in philosophy: “I think, therefore I am.” That quote, and that his most famous book is titled Meditations, have created the impression of Descartes as a kind of dreamy thinker detached from the world. This understandable conception is not true.
The real Descartes was thoroughly grounded in the world and the history of scholarship. His concerns were eminently practical, centered on how we can better understand science and mathematics the better to comprehend the world in which we live. Descartes claimed to have found a method of guiding his reason that was highly effective in helping him make significant discoveries in his scientific research. His method, and the philosophical conclusions to which his method led him, were immediately influential and remain so even today.
Descartes’ method is often described as a method of doubt. Part of his method is a willingness to doubt that which we take for granted, but in Descartes’ method, doubt is only a tool in service of a higher goal. His overarching purpose throughout all of his philosophy was to discover an ultimate truth — a certainty on which he could base all thought. His methodical…
