Truth and Descartes Essay

Submitted By mbati1993
Words: 714
Pages: 3

Descartes is very personal in his discussion of truth and error. He is certain that he is a thinking thing and he clearly distinctly perceives this fact. Descartes mention about this on paragraph 2 of “Descartes: Forth Meditation: Of Truth and Error”, stating that it’s certainly a thinking thing, and not extended in length, breadth, and depth. Moreover, Descartes mentions distinctness and clearness along with his existence depends entirely on him in each moment of his life. I agree with Descartes because he establishes a point and if used properly will help find the truth. He is a true thinker and feels he has definitely proved of truth and error.
They say that the Truth and Error is structured simply to avoid error and arrive at the truth. Descartes mentions how God has given him of discerning the true from the false in not infinite in me. Also, he concentrates on how God has given him qualities and understanding on the truth from the false. He understands how to use his mind’s existence to understand the truth from the false. He concludes that he can also avoid error completely by suspending judgment in cases where he is uncertain and only passing judgments on clear and distinct perceptions. Judgments on ideas cannot be a source of error but knowledge and understanding. One might not be aware of the source of error, therefore makes mistakes. For example, a car racer was pretty sure he was going to win the race, but how sure can he be? Or a student in a basketball game thought the game will end with a victory in our team but the opponent shot the last point and won. The will is responsible for asserting and rejecting, and it is in the will that value and possibility to error themselves.

Descartes explains that in order to determine the truth of an idea, we must determine to what degree the idea resembles to reality. Human weakness to error is caused by the fact that we, as human beings, do not have an unlimited ability to recognize the truth, and by the fact that we are free to choose either truth or untruth. In paragraph 9, he states that he himself has examined closely, and considering what his errors are which bear witness to the existence of flaws in me. With this in mind, Descartes knows himself to be capable of error; therefore, he examined his own abilities. Some people cannot say if God exists or not but Descartes explains and gives explanation of the existence of God. He explains how God as Infinite being and cannot occur in the finite mind of a human being unless God really existed. Nevertheless, I agree that the reason we