A Reflection on Suspicious and Hidden Prejudices in Descartes' Epistemology | ||
| حکمت و فلسفه | ||
| Article 3, Volume 20, Issue 77, March 2024, Pages 59-84 PDF (805.11 K) | ||
| Document Type: Research Paper | ||
| DOI: 10.22054/wph.2024.74618.2166 | ||
| Authors | ||
| Javad Rabiee* 1; Yousef Nozohour2 | ||
| 1PhD Student of Philosophy at Allameh Tabataba'i University, Tehran, Iran | ||
| 2Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy, Allameh Tabataba'i University, Tehran, Iran | ||
| Abstract | ||
| Descartes considered thought to be something of which we are directly aware. He described an idea as a mode of thinking and believed that innate ideas form a specific category of ideas that are regarded as self-evident and clear. Doubts about them can be removed through a process of rational inquiry and reflection. Furthermore, Descartes made a distinction between empirical knowledge and deductive knowledge. Deductive knowledge is founded on a chain of arguments built upon necessary knowledge. This chain of deduction ultimately leads back to the most certain element in Descartes' philosophy, which is intuition. He maintained that true knowledge must be unequivocal and free from any doubt. According to Descartes, clear and distinct ideas serve as the criteria for truth. Errors, in Descartes' view, arise when we make judgments or form beliefs based on ideas that lack complete clarity and distinction. The principle of cogito (I think, therefore I am), which Descartes expresses in his book "Meditations", is considered the most crucial certainty, intuitive, and free from bias. However, according to the authors of this article, the principle of cogito, which is the culmination of Descartes' epistemology, is purportedly based on at least four hidden and questionable prejudices: memory, language, a rationality devoid of any possibility of madness, and the hidden unconscious. | ||
| Keywords | ||
| Cogito principle; prejudice; truth; error; epistemology | ||
| References | ||
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