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The method for the
discovery of
truth
is analytic and consists of four
rules:
Accept no thing as true except what can be clearly
perceived to be so
and accept no
thing as
true unless one has no occasion to
doubt it.
Divide up each
problem into as many parts as possible
and resolve each in the best manner possible.
Carry on one's reflections in due order;
beginning with the most simple
and
proceed little by little, or by degrees, to knowledge of the most
complex.
Make enumerations so complete and reviews so
general that one can be certain of omitting nothing.
Good sense is, of
all things among
men, the most
equally distributed; for every one
thinks himself so abundantly provided with
it, that those even who are the most difficult to satisfy in every
thing else, do not usually
desire a larger measure of this
quality than they already possess.
It is not likely that all are
mistaken the conviction it is
rather to be held as testifying that the power
of judging aright and of distinguishing
truth from error, which is properly what is called
good sense or reason, is by nature equal in all men; and that the diversity of
our opinions, consequently, does not arise from
some being endowed with a larger share of reason than
others, but solely from this, that
we conduct our thoughts along different ways, and do not fix
our attention on the same
objects.
For to be possessed of a vigorous
mind is not enough; the prime requisite is
rightly to apply it. He truly
engages in battle who endeavors to surmount all
the difficulties and errors which prevent him
from reaching the knowledge of
truth.
I,
Rene Descartes, hold in esteem the studies of the
schools. I was
aware that the
languages taught in them are
necessary to the understanding of the
writings of the ancients; that the
grace of
fable stirs the
mind; that the memorable deeds of
history
elevate it; and, if
read with discretion, aid in forming
the judgment; that the perusal of all
excellent books is to interview with
the noblest men of
past ages and in which are
discovered only their
choicest thoughts; that eloquence has
incomparable force and
beauty; that
poetry has its ravishing
graces and
delights; that in the
mathematics there are many refined
discoveries eminently suited
to gratify the inquisitive, as well as further all the
arts an lessen the labor of
man; that numerous highly useful
precepts and exhortations to virtue are
contained in treatises on morals; that
theology points out the
path to
heaven; that
philosophy affords the means of
discoursing with an appearance of truth on all
matters, and commands the admiration of
the more simple; that jurisprudence,
medicine, and the other
sciences, secure for their cultivators
honors and bestow some
attention upon all, even upon those abounding the most in
superstition and
error, that we may be in a position to determine their
real value,
and guard against being
deceived.
I, Rene Descartes, am not at all astonished at the
extravagances attributed to those ancient philosophers whose own
writings we do not possess; whose
thoughts, however, I do not on that account suppose to have been really
absurd, seeing they were among the ablest
men of their times, but only that these have been
falsely represented to
us.
I am
quite sure that the most devoted of the present followers of Aristotle would
think themselves happy if they had as much
knowledge of nature as he possessed.
I, Rene Descartes, never accepted any
thing for
true which I did not
clearly know to be such; that is to say,
carefully to avoid precipitancy and prejudice, and to comprise nothing
more in my judgement than what was presented to
my mind so
clearly and distinctly as to exclude all
doubt.
I divide
each of the difficulties under examination into as many parts as possible, and
as might be necessary for its adequate solution. I resolved
to conduct my thoughts in such order that, by commencing
with objects the simplest and easiest to
know, I might
ascend by little and little, and, as it were, step by step, to the
knowledge of the more
complex; in accustoming
my mind to the
love and nourishment of
truth, and to a distaste for all such
reasoning as were false.
The long chains of simple and easy
reasoning by means of which geometers are
accustomed to reach the conclusions of their most difficult demonstrations, had
led me to envision that all
things, to the
knowledge of which
man is competent, are mutually
connected in the same
way, and that there is nothing so
far removed from us as to be beyond
our reach, or so hidden that
we cannot
discover it, provided only
we abstain from accepting the
false for the true, and always preserve in
our thoughts the order necessary for the
deduction of one
truth from
another.
Expediency
seemed to dictate that Ishould regulate
my practice conformably to the
opinions of those with whom
I should have to
live; and it appeared to me that, in order
to ascertain the real
opinions of such, I
ought rather to take cognizance of what they
practiced rather than of what they said, not only because, in the
corruption of our manners, there are few disposed to
speak exactly as they
believe, but also because very many are not
aware of what it is that they
really believe; for, as the
act of
mind by which a
thing is
believed is different from that by which
we know
that we believe it, the one
act is often found without
the other.
When it is not in our power to
determine what is true,
we ought to
act according to what is most
probable. I, Rene Descartes, have always endeavored to
conquer myself rather than fortune, and
change my
desires rather than the order of the
Earth, and in general, accustom
myself to the persuasion that, except
our own thoughts, there is nothing
absolutely in
our power.
If we consider all
real objects as equally beyond
our power,
we shall no more regret the absence of such
real objects as appear due at
birth, when deprived of them without any
fault of our own.
I may
state that it was my conviction that
I could not do better than continue in that in which
I was engaged, viz., in devoting
my whole life to the culture of my
reason, and in making the greatest progress
I was able in the knowledge of truth.
I, Rene
Descartes, attentively examined what
I was.
I
observed that I could
envision that I had
no body, and that there was no Earth nor any
place in which I might be, but I could not envision
that I was not; for I still
was and that, on the contrary, from
the very circumstance that
I thought to
doubt the truth of
other
things, it most clearly and
certainly followed that I was; while, on the
other hand, if I had only ceased
to think, although all the
other
objects which I
had ever envisioned had been in
reality existent, I would
have had no reason to
believe that I
existed.
I, Rene Descartes, thence concluded that
I was a substance
whose whole
essence or nature consists only in
thinking, and which, that it may
exist, has no need of place, nor is
dependent on any thing
real .
"I,"
that is to say, the mind by which
I am what I am, is wholly
distinct from the body, and is even more
easily known than the
body, and is such, that although the
body were not, it would still continue to
be all that it is.
I
think, therefore I
am.
Although I, Rene Descartes, might
think that I was
dreaming, and that all which
I saw or imagined was false, I could not,
nevertheless, deny that the ideas were in
reality in my thoughts.
I
was disposed straightway to search for other truths.
I, Rene
Descartes, perceived that there was
nothing at all in these demonstrations which could assure
me of the existence of their
object: thus, for example, supposing a
triangle to be given, I distinctly perceived that its three angles were
necessarily equal to two right angles,
but I did not on that account
perceive any
thing which could assure
me that any triangle existed.
The
reason which leads many to persuade
their selves that there is a difficulty in
knowing this truth, and even also in
knowing what their
mind really
is, is that they never raise their thoughts
above real objects, and are so accustomed to consider
nothing except by way of
imagination, which is a mode of
thinking limited to
real objects, that all that is not
imaginable appears to them not
intelligible.
The
truth of this is sufficiently manifest from
the single circumstance,
that the philosophers of the
schools accept as a maxim that there is
nothing in the understanding which was
not previously in the senses, in which however
it is certain that the ideas of
God and of the soul have never been; and it appears to
me that they who make use of their
imagination to
comprehend these
ideas do exactly the same
thing as if, in order to
hear sounds or
smell odors, they strove to avail
themselves of their eyes; unless indeed that
there is this difference, that the sense of
sight does not afford
us an inferior assurance to those of
smell or hearing; in place of which, neither
our imagination nor
our senses
can give us assurance of any
thing unless
our understanding intervene.
God is or exists because all that
we possess is derived from
God.
Whence it follows that
our ideas or notions, which to the extent of their
clearness and distinctness are real, and
proceed from God, must to that extent be
true.
Whereas
we not
infrequently have
ideas or notions in which some
falsity is contained,
this can only be the case
when we proceed from lack of
knowledge.
After the
knowledge of God and of the soul
has rendered us certain,
we can easily
understand that the
truth of reason we
experience when
awake,
ought not in the slightest
degree to be called in question on
account of the illusions of
our dreams.
We know that the thoughts which occur in
dreaming occur
within a false reality.
Whether
awake or asleep,
we ought never to allow
ourselves to be persuaded of the
truth of any
thing unless on the evidence of
our reason.
It must be noted that
I, Rene Descartes, say of
our reason, and not of
our imagination.
It is not a dictate of
reason that what
we thus see or imagine is in
reality existent.
I
have also observed certain
laws established in
nature by God, that after
we have reflected sufficiently upon these,
we can not
doubt that they are accurately
observed in all that
exists or takes place on the
Earth and farther, by considering the
concatenation of these laws, it appears to
me that I have
discovered many
truths more useful and more important than all
I had before learned, or even had
expected to
learn.
If
God were now to create somewhere in the
imaginary spaces matter sufficient to compose a
universe and were to agitate variously and
confusedly the different parts of
this matter, so that there resulted a
chaos as disordered as the poets
ever feigned, and after that did nothing more than lend ordinary concurrence to
nature, and allow
nature to
act in accordance with the
laws of nature which
God had established, the result, by necessity,
would be as our
reality is.
I, Rene Descartes, have pointed out what are the
laws of nature; and, with no
other
principle upon which to found
my reasoning
except the infinite
perfection of God, I endeavored to
demonstrate all those about which there could be any room for
doubt, and to prove that they are
such, that even if God had
created more worlds, there could have been none in which these
laws were not observed.
An opinion commonly received among
theologians, that the action by which
God now sustains
the universe is the same with that by which he
originally created it; so that even although
God had from the
beginning given it no
other
form than that of
chaos, provided only
God had established certain
laws of nature, and had lent it
concurrence to enable it to act as it is wont to do, it may
be believed, without discredit to the
miracle of
creation, that, in this
way alone,
things
purely material might, in course of
time, have become such as
we observe them
at present; and their nature is much more
easily envisioned when they are beheld coming
in this manner gradually into existence,
than when they are only considered as produced at once in a finished and
perfect state.
I, Rene Descartes,
perceived it to be possible to
arrive at knowledge highly useful in
life; so natural to our minds that
no one can so much as imagine
himself
ignorant of it; and in
light of the speculative
philosophy usually taught in the
schools, to
discover a practical means
by which to know the
force and action of
fire, water,
air, the stars, the heavens, and all the
other
bodies that surround
us, as distinctly as
we know
the various crafts of
our artisans, we
might also apply them in the same way to all the uses to which they are
adapted, and thus render ourselves the lords
and possessors of nature.
And this is
a result to be desired, not only in order to
the invention of an infinity of
arts, by which we might be enabled to
enjoy without any trouble the
fruits of the Earth, and all its comforts, but also and
especially for the preservation of health, which is without
doubt, of all the blessings of
this life, the first and
fundamental one.
I examined what were the first and most ordinary effects
that could be deduced from these causes; and it appears to
me that, in this
way, I have
found knowledge of the
heavens, the stars, and on Earth
knowledge of water, air,
fire, minerals, and
other
things which of all
others are the most
common and simple, and hence the
easiest to know.
I, Rene Descartes, have essayed to find general
principles, deducing them from certain
germs of truths naturally existing in our minds. It
is necessary also to confess that the power of
nature is so ample and vast, and these
principles so simple and general, that
I have hardly observed a
single particular effect which I cannot at once
recognize as capable of being deduced by mankind.
Thereupon, turning over in
my mind, the
real objects that had ever been presented to
my senses
I freely venture to state that I have never observed any
which I could not satisfactorily
explain by the
laws of nature.
I, Rene Descartes, am confident that there is no one,
even among those whose profession it is, who does not admit that all that is
presently known is almost nothing in
comparison of what remains to be discovered.
I incite men of
superior genius to strive to proceed farther, by contributing, each according
to his inclination and ability, to the necessary
experiments, and also by
informing the public of all they
might discover, so that, by
the last beginning where those before them
had left off, and thus connecting the
lives and labors of many,
we might collectively proceed much farther
than each by himself could do.
I, Rene
Descartes, am now in a position to discern, as I
think, with sufficient clearness what
course must be taken to make the majority of those
experiments which may conduce
to this end: but I
perceive likewise that they are
such and so numerous, that neither my
hands nor my
income, though it were a thousand times
larger than it is, would be sufficient for them all; so that according as
henceforward I shall have the means of making more or
fewer experiments,
I shall in the same proportion make greater or
less progress in the knowledge of
nature.
I had hoped to make
known the treatise I had written, and so clearly to exhibit the advantage
that would thence accrue to mankind, as to
induce all who have the common
good of man at heart, that is, all who are
virtuous in truth, and not merely in appearance, or according
to opinion, as well to
communicate to
me the
experiments they had already
made, as to assist me in those that remain to
be made.
I neither have so high an
opinion of myself as to be willing to make
promise of any
thing extraordinary, nor feed on
imaginations so
vain as to fancy that the
public must be much interested in
my designs.
If I, Rene Descartes, were to publish the
principles of
my philosophy: for although they are almost
all so evident that to assent to them no more is needed than simply to
understand them, and
although there is not one of them of which I do
not expect to be able to give demonstration,
yet, as it is impossible that
they can be in accordance with all the diverse opinions of others, I foresee that
I should frequently be turned aside from
my grand design,
on occasion of the opposition which
they would be sure to awaken.
I may say that such
individuals have an interest in
my refraining from publishing the
principles of the
my philosophy; for, since these are of a
category the simplest and most
evident, I should, by publishing them, do much the
same as if I were to throw open the windows, and allow
the light of day to enter.
I, Rene Descartes, resolved by no means to consent to
their publication during my
lifetime, lest either the
oppositions or the controversies to
which they might give rise, or even the reputation, such as it might be, which
they would acquire for me, should be any
occasion of my losing the time that I had set apart
for my own inquiries and
life.
For though it be
true that every one is bound to promote to the
extent of his ability the good of
others, and that to be useful to no one is
really to be worthless, yet it is likewise
true that our cares ought to extend beyond the present,
and it is good to omit doing what might perhaps
bring some profit to the
living, when
we have in view the accomplishment of
other ends that will be of much
greater advantage to those yet to be born.
Even superior men have no
reason for any great
anxiety to
know these
laws of nature, for if what they
desire is to be able to
speak of all
things, and to acquire a reputation
for learning, they will gain their end
more easily by remaining satisfied with
the appearance of truth, which can be found
without much difficulty in all sorts of matters, than by seeking the
truth itself which unfolds itself but slowly
and obliges us to freely confess
our
ignorance.
I, Rene Descartes, do not wish to forestall the
judgments of
others by
speaking
myself of my
writings; but it will gratify
me if they be examined, and, to afford the
greater inducement to this I request all who may have
any objections to make them.
I have resolved
to devote what time I
may still have to live to no
other
endeavor
other than acquiring some
knowledge of
laws of nature, the
reality of the cause is established by the
reality of the effect.
If you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in your
life you doubt, as far as possible, all
things.
It is not enough to have a
good mind. The
main thing is to use it
well.
- Rene Descartes, the
Father of the Scientific Method and French philosopher
It is likely
that Rene Descartes died of arsenic poisioning while tutoring Queen Cristina of
Sweden.
Enlightenment comes from brief
insights into the
nature of
things. Although such
insights are rare and difficult to
sustain they allow us to
understand the basis of our
desires and grant us the
virtue to control those desires.
Those who have mastery over
their desires will have a healthy regard of
others as they see them as
equally capable of a
virtuous
will. Those who possess this
knowledge of themselves readily come to
believe that any
other
individual can have the same
knowledge about
themselves because this
knowledge involves nothing which depends
on any thing outside of the
self.
Those
who have mastery over their desires are
self-assured and confident and
have mastery over their fear and
anger. Contentment through
virtue is attained by acceptance of the
reality that the only
things we actually
control are the only
things that we should concern
ourselves with.
See Ian Player
See John Muir
See Edward
Abbey
See Rachel Carson
See
Charles Darwin
See Henry David Thoreau
See John Wesley Powell
See Marcus Aurelius V
See Thomas Aquinas
See David
Hume
See John Stuart Mills
See
Ralph Waldo Emerson
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