As you read the 2nd Meditation of Descartes, think about how you can perform the same mental exercise he is conducting. What would it mean to doubt everything? How do you come to the conclusions? You are to re-write the 2nd Meditation in your own words from the first person perspective- meaning, you are mandated to use "I" throughout your posting.
Text can be found here.
Assignment should be about a page to a page and a half.
I will go on a path; a path of doubt where everything that I have once known, cannot be trusted anymore. I will be on this path until I find at least one truth, a truth of certainty that can be logically proved. During this, I cannot trust my senses. My senses will deceive me, so I suppose therefore my senses do not exist. Maybe in this world, nothing is truly certain, and that I can not believe anything. I exist because I think and can be persuaded. Every time I say I am, I exist, I must exist, because I have that thought.
ReplyDeleteI should rid myself of anything doubtful, anything uncertain, and start afresh with only things that I know to be certain. During this path of doubt, I can only judge what is present for me to judge. Things I do not know of, I cannot judge, because that is impossible to do. I do not depend on other things that do not exist, or that I doubt. Only things that I know are true do I depend on and turn to.
Everything related to the body could actually be a dream. When I dream, I could perceive what the body looks like, which in actuality could result to be helpful, as my dreams would show greater truth and clearness. The truth that we, humans, believe to be true, are our body. I touch and see my body everyday, but maybe I do not actually know what my body really is. If our body were to somehow change, then is our body still the same, or not? I believe that the body does remain, but that I knew the body differently then just its appearance.
My process of thought, or perception, is how I come to know truths. Sometimes, I can not trust my mind, because it sometimes wanders, and this wandering can deceive me. How I think is an act of my mind and this process of thought, not my sense. Attributes of the soul are firstly, eating and walking. But, if I do not have a body, and the soul is part of the body, then I cannot eat and walk. The duration of the phrase I am, I exist, depends on if I am thinking. If I cease to think, then I also cease to exist, because thought is part of one that exists.
Doubt is everywhere; there is no way of avoiding it or not having it. You must follow your doubt until it is proven certain. But is it truly possible to prove doubt certain? There is nothing that you can prove to be certain. But can I prove this statement to be certain?
ReplyDeleteIf I go throughout my day and assume everything to be false, then it will be like they never existed. To doubt everything is like being in a haunted house, you know things will pop out or be “spooky” but you will not be scared because you know what to expect. Doubt works this way, like the mummy popping out at you, you will treat it like it is not real. I will believe that there is a person in the costume but my mind will tell me it does not exist. It is like my senses do not exist. This is how I can see doubt not making any certainty in the world.
If I deny my sense I doubt the existence of anything around me, including myself. But how do I feel things? Or how am I able to see what is going on around me? I cannot mistake myself for another object, even though I am not certain of who I am. Should I rethink who I already thought I was? Even though I am man is it possible that I am some other being? How long can I be certain that I am a being and I exist?
The reason I can doubt my own being is because I doubt the existence of everything else. If I doubt all of the things around me how am I supposed to be able to be certain of my own being? Can I trust my own imagination? If I cannot trust my own imagination how am I supposed to be certain that I exist and my mind is not just playing tricks on me? If I am unable to be certain of the things around me and my imagination there is no way for me to be certain of myself.
To doubt everything means you do not believe in yourself or the existence of the things and beings around you. To doubt everything would also mean that you cannot trust you own thoughts. This would also mean that you could never be certain of the things around you. You also would not be able to be certain of yourself or what you are thinking.
Everything that I have come to know is full of doubt. My senses seek to deceive me and there seems to be a little entity trying to fool me into believing something that is not real. The only thing I know for certain is that I exist. When I think, "I am, I exist," it proves that I am real. The question is, what am I? I cannot be a rational animal because both the words rational and animal may not be real. I also cannot be a soul stuck in a body because that would mean that the body is real which I also doubt. This whole realm may be a dream and I am not even sure. I am a mind that doubts, understands, affirms, denies, wills, refuses, imagines, and senses. Everything else is uncertain.
ReplyDeleteWhen considering a thing the main question is what can be clearly grasped and understood? I come in contact with a maple log. My senses provide me with a good understanding of what this thing is. But when the log is burnt, my senses can no longer assist me. The altered thing is still a log but I can not come to know this through my senses. I cannot trust my senses because I doubt their existence. I only know what is conceived in my mind. Perception is subject to the mind and can be confused or imperfect. All I know is that I exist.
In the inner most recesses of my mind, I have come to one conclusion so far; doubt everything. Through doubt, I am on a mission to find certainty or one certain thing in this world. Although, doubting is what finds the negativity or the falseness in things; if I doubt everything, what can be considered true? That must mean things that are true must be undoubted. What makes me doubt everything? Is it some malicious punk that finds humor in my tribulations? Or am I just off the deep end? I do know however one thing, and that is that I exist. I know this because I doubt and through that I know that something cannot exist if it does not think. I think therefore I exist. But what am I even though I am? What body am I? What makes my body what it is? What proof do I have? This leads me to ponder more and to really think about things. The more I think, the longer I exist. And the more I think, the more truth I find.
ReplyDeleteDoubt. Doubt is something that even I can not overcome. Doubt is something that has my mind thinking in all different directions. It makes me believe that somethings are not true as if they don't exist. It makes all things not trustworthy until one can be logistically proven to be real, then shall I believe its existence to be real. I may have a feeling that something exists but how am I suppose to know if my senses exist? How am I suppose to know my senses are true? It makes me then think that my senses are not real but they are there to deceive me thinking they are true to foreshadow my nonexistence in this nonexistent world that we do not know of. That maybe I do not exist, that its all a dream. But I dream that I do exist. That if I know that I exist then I do exist but whom am I to say what I am for all around me is doubtful to be true so nothing is certain only my existence because my thoughts of I existing is true. But what if my dreams are more certain than my senses. That my dreams are more clearer and show more of a greater truth. Or is it just my mind playing tricks on me? Can I trust my imagination? I know that I exist because of my body. I can feel my body, I can see and smell my body. My body is there. But if my body changes I know when and how it would change. I know the appearance of my body because it will come in thought. If I didn't have a thought of it, would it be real? I am, I exist. I am because I think. I have thought. I have thought on what is real and what isn't. My mind wanders, my mind wanders because it seeks the truth. It seeks understanding, for I exist. I doubt everything to know its existence is there or isn't. Thoughts are part of those existing. I cannot say what I am for I do not know what I am. For anything I may say is not real for I have no prove for that to be real only my thoughts are to be real for if I think of them and they are fake then why am I thinking of them? But I am a mind who doubts, who has senses, who has imaginations, who has thoughts, and approves and disapproves because I have a mind that wills to know the truth and wills to know the realities of what is true and what isn't. I am, I exist.
ReplyDeleteI cannot overcome doubt. Doubt has me doubting what is even real. It has me doubt what I am doing. Doubt has me doubting if things that I think are real even exist. I cannot trust that anything truly exists until I can prove it with absolute certainty. My senses may make me what to believe that something exists but I cannot even trust my senses. Can I even be absolutely certain that my senses are real? How am I supposed to know that my senses are not here just to deceive me into thinking that something exists? How am I supposed to know that I do not exist? How can I be absolutely certain that I am even real? Maybe all of this is just a dream and I am just dreaming that I exist. How am I supposed to know if my dreams are more certain than my own senses? My dreams show more truths than my senses. Or are my dreams just an extension of my dreams trying to deceive me? I am certain that I exist because I can feel my body, as well as feel my body. I am certain that I would know when there are changes to my body because I would feel it. I know that I have thoughts. I know that I am because I think. I allow my mind to wander. I allow my mind to doubt. I allow my mind to imagine things. I allow my mind to trust my senses. I am certain that I exist because I believe that things are real and I believe that I am.
ReplyDeleteWe must learn to doubt everything. Doubting may be seen as a bad thing, associated with negativity. However without doubt, we would never be able to know what the truth is. I have found that if we question everything, and look at it this way, we will be able to find the certainties I am looking for. A factor that is taken into account is our senses. Our senses may seem to reveal us the truth, however they can be deceiving, and mislead us. For this we cannot trust our senses, and doubt them as well. This doubt may seem tedious, however to be able to come to logical conclusions it is necessary.
ReplyDeleteOften times I doubt who I really am. Calling into question what am I? The reason to doubt so, is because with the doubt I will be able to find certainties in my examination, which will help me discover what I really am, and am not. Some questions that I asked myself along the way were am I rational animal? These answer to this is no, because I am not certain of the true existence or truth of “rational” or “animal.” Another question I asked myself was am I a soul enclosed in a body? The answer to this is also no, because I cannot truly comprehend/understand these things, especially the body. The final question I thought of, was am I a mind? Yes I am a mind, I can think, and I know that my mind is thinking. There are also other ways of thinking, like doubting, denying or understanding. I have found through my meditations that certainties might have to be somewhat simplistic, but they are also undeniable.
I have chosen a path where I shall doubt and question everything I have once believed or been told. This path will be my life until I have found at least one truth, that which is certain in a local proven way. During this time I must doubt my sense because they will deceive me. I may find, while on this path of doubt, that nothing in certain. Therefore I cannot believe anything in my life.
ReplyDeleteRiding myself of everything doubtful and start new will help me find what is certain. I can only doubt that which I "know" in my life now.
Dreams are a place where I can see myself as if I am awake. To us, as humans, our body is truth. However if dreams show us anything, it is that we don't really know what is real or not. Therefore I believe that body is real but I know the body differently then it's appearances.
My mind is how I come to truth however I can not trust it because it will wonder. Wondering can deceive me. The path I am taking depends on if I am thinking. If I cease to think, then I also cease to exist.
I can't really trust anything around me. The only thing I can put some trust in is my mind. And even then, I could be crazy so my faith in my mind is minimal. I can't put my faith in those around me. I can't even be sure they're real. The only way I can know I'm real is that I can think. I can't think when I'm sleeping. I can't be sure the world around me is authentic. So I will doubt everything. Because I can't be sure of anything. So I'll question everything about my existence, like Keanu Reeves in the Matrix.
ReplyDeleteThroughout my life I have come to realize that all that I know and trust is unreliable, and this is because of doubt. Doubt has made me aware and once I've acknowledged the existence of doubt I've come to doubt all. Doubt can be perceived as a pessimistic view and looking down on everything. This is not always true, doubt is what helps to see and understand what is real and concrete in association of me. From that understanding my regards for who I am is a constant question. It is difficult to consistently take what I've known and experienced and apply it to who I am now and my changing person. The body is truth in its evidence that it exists. This is provable because every man can contemplate their own existence which makes it a slippery slope, but indefinitely real. The thing about knowing who I am is from the combination of the mind, body, and soul. This is what defines me and development comes from experience. The question is who am I? I find this out through examination of exactly who I am. The problem of existence is the concept that my own reality is a dream, or a dream of a dream of someone else. How can I know if I'm the only one dreaming this reality? I cannot; the only thing I can do is examine my person in existence and modify it for the better. The way objects are existing is another thing placed to create the variables in reality. Although I conceptualize things and others as real I believe they are placed to create the subjectivity in life. My biggest concern is living in the present because that is the one definitive reality I know and experience, regardless of the truth.
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ReplyDeleteThe question to ask is Can I trust my imagination? Can I trust own thoughts and instinct? I exist because of my physical being, I can feel my body, I can see and smell. if my physical being changes I know when and how it would change for the better or for the worst. I know the appearance of my body because it is my own. If I didn't have a thought of it, would it be real? It is because I exist because I think , I have thought. I have thought on what is real and what's not.
ReplyDeleteI will go on a path; a path of doubt where everything that I have been good to believe in, cannot be trusted anymore. I will continue on this path until I find some truths, truths that can be logically proved. During this, I cannot trust my senses. My senses will deceive me, so I should behave as though my sense do not exist. Maybe in this world, nothing is truly certain, and so I can not be perfectly sure. I exist because I think and can be persuaded. Every time I say I am, I exist, I must exist, because I have that thought.
ReplyDeleteI should rid myself of anything doubtful, anything uncertain, and start fresh with only things that I know to be certain. While on this path of doubt, I can only judge what is present for me to judge. Things I do not know of, I cannot judge, because that is impossible to do. I do not depend on things that do not exist, or that I doubt. Only things that I know are true do I depend on and turn to.
Everything related to the body could actually be a dream. When I dream, I could perceive what the body looks like, which in actuality could result to be helpful, as my dreams would show greater truth and clarity. The truth that we, humans, believe to be true, are our body. I touch and see my body everyday, but maybe I do not actually know what my body really is. If our body were to somehow change, then is our body still the same, or not? I believe that the body does remain, but that I knew the body differently than just its appearance.
My thought process, or perception, is how I come to know truths. Sometimes, I can not trust my mind, because it sometimes wanders, and this wandering can deceive me. How I think is an act of my mind and this process of thought, not my senses. Attributes of the soul are firstly, eating and walking. But, if I do not have a body, and the soul is part of the body, then I cannot eat and walk. The duration of the phrase I am, I exist, depends on if I am thinking. If I cease to think, then I also cease to exist, because thought is part of one that exists.
I believe that all humans at one point in their lives,are on a search for certainty.Certainty can not be achieved without doubt. I often find myself in doubt because without doubt, We are controlled by our senses.My senses are meant to deceive at times.My senses tell me only what is attracted them is right for me.Without doubting my senses, I will always be control by what I am attracted too.I believe that humans are always in this constant battle to find certainty.I have realized that I will be only find one certain. That i will never find anything to be certain.We are not meant to find things to be certain, this takes away from the beauty and progression of life, and the acquirement of wisdom.I find myself as close as possible to certainty as I find myself doubting things more and more.here are pros and cons to living your life with constant doubt. I believe that it is beneficial because doubt prevents anything from taking control of my soul. At the same time, Questioning everything in my life will make me miserable, that's without question. I believe that following your senses in some cases result in pleasure. It is the recognition of balance between trusting my senses and doubting them is where I will experience happiness , without chasing false happiness.
ReplyDeleteI believe that I am forced to trust my own thoughts, because if I don't, how can I trust anything. The skill I must learn is to recognize the origin of my thoughts. I cannot trust thoughts that stem from my senses or emotions , I must doubt them constantly. Although I can trust thoughts that stem from past experiences and those which I have acquired from wisdom. This sense of balance is a common theme in my mind.
What I can never doubt is whether I exist, this is certain, I have to live my life with that mentality, that my words can affect others, that my actions can affect others.One can become dangerous if they believe otherwise.
If my mind is filled with doubt I do not have the power to solve those problems. Although I will not let the doubt take over my path. Water is something I cannot stand firm or swim to the bottom. Some may be controlled by what they feel is right rather I am controlled by what I know is right. We as a people are attracted to things that bring fear to us, but I aim to find a place where we are attracted to those things that make only good thoughts. I ask this question in the end do I really exist in this world or is it just a place where my soul wanders looking for an answer.
ReplyDeleteIn my on mind I have been filled with a powerfully dark doubt which for me has become all that I know and all that I shall know, although it may try to overcome me I am the stronger force for it is no match for the power of my will. How can I know I'm not dreaming right now or am in a coma this entire reality could be nothing but an act of over imagination, it is a dangerous thought that my mind has become unbalanced allo
ReplyDelete*allowing doubt to tip the scales.
DeleteI must learn that nothing can be trusted and everything can be doubted, thee only thing that I can be trust is myself and my mind. I couldn't even trust my family with their opinions and beliefs of thought that are doubted. I must only trust myself whether or not I believe in things that relate to you . And whether things are real to I and not real to you. Everything in life could and can be questioned to any sense.
ReplyDeleteIf I were to doubt everything, I would have no concept of what is real. If I have no concept of what is real, maybe doubting that this is real isn't real. Coming to this conclusion is extremely hard because I have no idea what is real anymore. This is a scary concept because all that we have experienced and will experience may just not be real. If this is so, how can we judge what is real if we are to doubt everything. And if we doubt that, can we truly ever know what to doubt.
ReplyDeleteI ponder over my existence in the world and wonder what confirms me? Have I been diluted by my own mind or by that of a greater force? My emotions I experience from stimulus around me happen for reasons I know are logical but to what though processes? I can perceive this world with sense like touch and smell but am I really reading the sights or believing myself to be doing so? Coming to the conclusion that I CAN feel and CAN sense then I DO exist for I'm able to notice myself their for I am. Next I think on change that can be misleading for some senses making me think wrongly. If senses is one of the few ways my thoughts and truths can form then what of change. What if senses lead to information that may has altered? It's easy to tell of instances where senses and feelings to lead though to ideas that hold less to no true weight. What allows then is unsure but I think it maybe my ability to use combination of the senses through close examination
ReplyDeleteTo doubt everything is to not trust anything or anyone around you. I can only have faith in myself and have faith myself. I cannot be certain that this world is real . It could be an illusion like the matrix. To be certain , I'd Have to be able to think for myself ... Feel , touch , and smell myself or anything.
ReplyDeleteWhat I have thought about in the past I now doubt. I doubt them so much that I must now think about them. I do not know which path to take about thinking about these things that I doubt. I will try to think the same way that I have thought before but I am not sure how differently the outcome will be this time. I must put away with all doubt unless I see something to be truly and purely false. I will continue to think until I find all of the truths that I am looking for. Everything that I see is not a truth because I do not trust my senses. None of the objects which I remember have ever existed because I do not trust my senses. I do not have any sense. The body, movement, shape, and extension of life are only fallacies that my mind presents to me. What then is truth? Maybe nothing is true. Where do these thoughts that I think come from? Is there a God that brings these thoughts to me? I cannot exist without the senses of the mind through the body so what else can I trust? Can I not exist without my body? I can come to the conclusion that I exist because I can doubt. I can doubt and reason with my mind, therefore I exist. Things such as the sky and earth cannot think and reason, therefore they do not exist. Why does “He” bring certain things to my mind but leave other things out of my thoughts? Could I think without Him? I am cognizant that I can know, therefore I am real and not imaginary. I am not truly sure what I am today nor do I know if I will ever be. Before I “was”, what was I thinking and who was I? I do not know the truth about myself even though I am 100% mind. I exist because I can think. I rely on my memory for the knowledge I own.
ReplyDeleteWhen we as human think of doubting things, It seems as if we doubt our doubts. By this I mean we doubt so many things in the world, yet we still believe in it, even though we say we do not. These things then become a major topic, or theme, in whatever we do, which is the reason we begin to doubt our doubts. We think, and think, and think, until finally we can no longer doubt that topic. I do not fully understand these thoughts brought about, however, I do understand that constant thought of such a broad topic that we once doubted allows for many contradictions and different/ new understandings, whether we know what they are or not. Ii do believe that doubting our doubts is a benefit, however, because it beings about new ideas and allows our minds to do a lot of thinking on something that we barely gave a second thought about recently. I can truly gain a grasp on this topics by a physical entity, whether it be seeing something on my own, or experiencing it in some other interactive way, it would allow for me to change my mind and express a new idea.
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ReplyDeleteMy mind can’t forget the past now filled with doubts. I am confused because I don’t see any solution to these doubts. I will start a new path until I find certainty. Everything that I see is fake … they were illusions in my mind. I conclude there is nothing that is “absolutely “certain. Is there someone who causes me to think these thoughts? I doubt my existence. I know there is a being who deceives me since I am being deceived I know I exist. It occurs to me mow I exist every time I think about it. I exist but I don’t know what I am. I know I am a man but I don’t t know what type. “Shall I say a rational animal?” I know that I am not a rational animal by answering this I would have to define what rational means and what is an animal. One question can cause the inquiry of multiple subjects. I know now I exist and a being above me who is trying to deceive me. I wonder if any of the traits that I listed belonging to the body are truly mine. I conclude that my mind belongs to me and that I am a “thinking thing”. I am now able to distinguish that I am not a collection of parts called the body or elements of the earth. I am a thing that “doubts, understands, affirms, denies, wills, refuses; that imagines also, and perceives.” I now doubt a lot. I understand everything with a deeper meaning through doubt. I believe the man who makes it his goal to gain knowledge higher than the knowledge of the common people should be ashamed to seek circumstances where they can doubt. I am nothing but mind. In conclusion I have come to find that my mind is the easiest to understand. I have long had this opinion and it is hard to change my opinion. I can now improve my memory with all the new knowledge I have gained from this meditation.