Cartesian Dream Argument: A Critique 2022

Running head: CARTESIAN DREAM ARGUMENT: A CRITIQUE
Cartesian Dream Argument: A Critique
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CARTESIAN DREAM ARGUMENT: A CRITIQUE
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Formal Layout of the Argument Being Critiqued...........................................................................2
Objections........................................................................................................................................4
Possible Responses to Objections....................................................................................................4
Determination of the Soundness of the Argument..........................................................................4
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................5
End Notes.........................................................................................................................................6

CARTESIAN DREAM ARGUMENT: A CRITIQUE
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Introduction
Rene Descartes, often referred as the “Father of Modern Philosophy”, was the notable
French philosopher, mathematician and a scientist who furthered the course of modern
philosophy with his ground-breaking theories on epistemology and metaphysics. In his
Meditations on First Philosophy, Descartes set out his philosophical endeavor with the intention
of seeking infallible principles, much like the mathematical axioms, which would serve as the
foundation for the entire philosophical knowledge. He argued; by the merit of truth inherent in
the fundamental principles of philosophy, the theories deduced from them would also has to be
true. Therefore, Descartes started with the process of doubting every possible knowledge. In the
due course of his method of doubt, he opined that none of our sensory or rational knowledge is
reliable, for they could be doubted for their authenticity. In Meditation I, he opines “how
numerous were the false opinions that in my youth I had taken to be true, and thus how doubtful
were all those that I had subsequently built upon them” (13)1. This claim of Descartes has been
logically laid out in his Dream Argument.