Ren Descartes Meditations on First Philosophy
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Before the seventeenth century, no philosophers had attempted to develop new ideas into a philosophical system. Ren Descartes was the first philosopher to attempt to create this philosophical system so he therefore is often referred to as the "father of modern philosophy." Being a seventeenth century skeptical philosopher, Descartes' primary concern was with certainty, or what we could and could not know. The two most widely known philosophical ideas of Descartes are a method of 'hyperbolic doubt', and the argument that even though there is doubt, he cannot doubt that he exists.
Early in his philosophical career, Descartes came to doubt everything including the authority of previous philosophers as well as refusing to accept his own senses. Everything Descartes doubted was rejected because he only trusted that which was clear beyond a reasonable doubt. Because of this, many seventeenth century philosophers then began to believe that man should accept that he could know nothing at all. However, Descartes refused to do this. However, Descartes did attempt to reconstruct the knowledge of others so that there was not a possibility of doubt present. Descartes proves that he himself must have the basic characteristic of thinking, and that this thinking thing (mind) is distinct from his body; the existence of a God; the existence and nature of the external world...