Doubt, Certainty, and the Problem of Knowledge in Descartes

Abstract

The issue of doubt and certainty is considered one of the most significant problems that occupied modern philosophy. René Descartes holds a prominent position in this field as one of the founders of rationalism. Descartes started from the necessity of rebuilding knowledge upon a firm foundation that is not subject to error or illusion. Therefore, he adopted the method of doubt as a critical tool aimed at examining the degree of certainty of the ideas and beliefs acquired by human beings. Cartesian doubt was not a final doubt or a denial of truth; rather, it was a temporary methodological doubt through which reason seeks to reach an unquestionable certainty.

Descartes began by doubting the senses because they can deceive human beings. He then moved to doubt some intellectual beliefs, reaching the hypothesis of the evil demon, which represents the highest level of doubt. However, this process led him to discover the first certain truth, namely the Cogito: “I think, therefore I am”, where he found that the existence of the thinking self is a truth that cannot be denied as long as thinking exists. From this first certainty, Descartes attempted to construct a complete system of knowledge based on reason and the clarity and distinctness of ideas.

Descartes’ philosophy demonstrates that doubt is not the opposite of certainty; rather, it may be the path that leads to it. Doubt transforms from a state of destroying previous knowledge into a means of establishing certain knowledge. Nevertheless, his philosophy raised critical debates concerning the limits of reason and the role of sensory experience in constructing knowledge, especially among empiricist philosophers who argued that knowledge cannot be based on reason alone.