Rene Descartes Philosophy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Rene Descartes Philosophy - Essay Example In fuller conclusion the issues of doubt are brought up, he says, â€Å"underthought, I embrace all that which is in us so that we are immediately aware of it, a thing which exists thinks is a thing which doubts, understands†¦.† (21). These arguments by Descartes illustrate the need for self-assessment before making conclusions. A person (thinking being) is subject to doubt, hence must first be skeptic about everything in order to end up making the informed judgment. Thus, anything that exists has properties but must be subject to some skeptic before making an informed judgment and acknowledging its, existence. For example, a person sees a bottle of water, and his eyes tell him that it is there. Since this person has the premise that what his eyes sees is in fact real (or existing) it means that he knows that the bottle exists. In a similar way, Descartes explains that man (I) exists because of some attributes like body, soul, and thoughts. He goes ahead to explain that ‘I’ denies, understands, doubts, affirms, is willing, is unwilling, has sensory perception and imagines (19). This shows that an existence comes hand in hand with knowledge of properties that something possesses. Existence without the knowledge of its properties is even more illogical than deriving a conclusion that the existence of self also encompasses the nature of self. When Renà © Descartes says that he thinks, therefore, he exists, it means that he is aware of what he is and what his nature is. Otherwise, there is no existence. Every existence has its properties; be it divine authority like God or as trivial as a plastic water bottle.