Proctor 1

Kelsey Proctor Professor Pelletti Philosophy 101 13 April 2011 You Think, Therefore You Areor Arent For hundreds of years, Philosophers, students, teachers, and other scholars have dwelled on the idea of doubt. Many have come to the conclusion that doubt opens up many more opportunity to true knowledge, rather than pretending to know the unclear. This is called the Socratic Dialect or doubting what one thinks he or she believes to be true, then rediscovering or recollecting a better, truer understanding of the knowledge that is being tested. This type of doubt has been the base of all philosophy since Socrates time of 400 B.C.E. In the Elizabethan era, a philosopher by the name of Rene Descartes explored this idea even further. In the Meditations he stated that, I will apply myself earnestly and unreservedly to this general demolition of my opinions. (Meditation One,490.1) Soon in Meditation Three, he came to the extreme conclusion that: I will now shut my eyes, stop up my ears, and withdraw all my senses. I will also blot out from my thoughts all images of corporeal things, or rather since the latter is hardly possible, I will regard these images as empty, false and worthless. (Meditation Three, 490.1) By these Meditations, Descartes meant that he would doubt everything. And by everything, he meant everything. He doubted that every god-like being, that every man, that every woman, that every animal, and that every object he had ever encountered never existed at

Proctor 2

all. He considered the idea that everything he saw, everything he touched, and everything he believed to be true was false, and possibly could be a dream. When first trying to understand the point of doubt, one may think it ridiculous. Bertrand Russell stated that: Whoever wishes to become [or think] like a philosopher must learn to not be frightened by absurdities. (Russell 1167.2) Inquiring about these absurdities lets go of biases, or rose-colored glasses, and a greater feeling of accomplishment and understanding will emerge. Thinking like a philosopher allows the mind to go into deeper thought, and to make it easier to contemplate the possibility there is no external world, and that there is a possibility that I am dreaming. Trying to admit to ones self that there is no external world is a frightening thought. It is so eerie to wonder about such a theory because it is difficult to find evidence for such a claim. When a person is dreaming, the person may not know that they are asleep. The conversations, the emotions, the senses, the situations may feel so realistic, that after waking up, one may be in shock to find the truth that I am dreaming. In thinking like a philosopher one must dwell on such situations. This is when a question becomes clear: Is there any evidence to support the idea that everyone is not in a dream-like state, waiting to find the shocking truth? In trying to discover if there is such a shocking truth, first, in the Meditations, Rene Descartes tries to find evidence of an external world. One may first think that he or she knows that there is an external world because they can perceive it through the senses. Descartes first thought in the same way. However, like in a dream, Descartes comes to the conclusion that just because one sees, or feels a table, it does not mean that the table is actually there. He comes to the conclusion that the senses are very deceptive.

Proctor 3

To understand how the senses are deceptive, Descartes explains the deceit in simple relatable terms. For example, a person may see a dark blue under an oak tree when in fact the color comes from the perfect combination of sunlight and shadow, or one may think a skyscraper is a lot smaller from a distance. A man or woman may experience the pain of a phantom limb, even if the persons arm was lost months ago. One may hear voices or sounds if he or sheis suffering from a mental illness. There are many cases to which senses deceive us, although it is very difficult to accept that some believe in the theory of idealism (that reality is a mental image and that minds exist and not things) one must understand the possibility that deceit could be brainwashing every aspect of the external world. Because senses are so deceptive, Descartes could only be certain that he existed, because he was a thinking thing. Bertrand Russell stated about Descartes that: Doubt concerning his own existence was not possible, for it he did not exist, no demon could deceive him. If he doubted he must exist; if he had any experiences whatever, he must exist. (Russell 1167.1) However, although I am not any sort of a philosopher I will try and think like one and question Descartes conclusion and that more than the I exists. I began to think that there is at least one source of evidence that may demonstrate the existence of an external world when I read Bertrand Russells Chapter Two, The Problem of Philosophy: When human being speak-that is, when we hear certain noises which we associate with ideas, and simultaneously see certain motions of lips and expressions of the face-it is very difficult to suppose that what we hear is not the expression of a thought, as we know it

Proctor 4

would be if we emitted the same sounds. Of course similar things happen in dreams, where we are mistaken as to the existence of other people. (Russell 1168.2) After reading this passage, I began to contrast how people in real life are compared to people in dreams. This is when I realized that when I dream, the characters that seem so real are in no question, a part of my imagination. I say these characters are a part of my imagination because the characters in my mind are grown completely from my knowledge and experiences. The characters only have the knowledge that I have in real life. The characters that I dream up cannot have more knowledge that what I have in real life, or at least what I had known at a previous time in my life. By this I mean the characters in my dreams cannot complete a joke or a song that I have not heard in real life. These characters cannot compute something as concrete as calculus, if I have not learned it in real life. This is what allows me to believe that there is an external world. If I was dreaming this very instant, all of the people I encounter would be bland. By bland I mean they would not be able to give me new knowledge, sing me a new song, or make me laugh at a new joke. Now is where I began thinking even more like a philosopher. I am now coming to the conclusion that I am completely wrong, and that there are flaws to my evidence of a possibility of an external world. I now come to the conclusion that higher-being (such as a god) has stamped me with all of this information. A god could have developed various types of people in my mind, and then hid all, intricate types knowledge throughout my mind as well. This hidden knowledge could be giving my life characters (who I think to be my family and friends, etc.) realistic qualities to fool me like my sense do.

Proctor 5

When beginning this paper I thought I had a somewhat concrete place to stand with fighting Descartes and Russell. However, I was mistaken. I thought that I could conclude that as I exist, so do others, and by this we could demonstrate the possibility of an external world. I thought I could explain this by depicting the idea that although, I am a thinking thing, that other people are thinking things as well. I thought others could be described as thinking things too, because of how the people I perceive in real life are so different, and knowledgeable compared to the characters I make up in my dreams. As explained in the previous paragraph, I could be wrong. A god-like being could be merely playing another trick on my poor, lonely mind. I apologize for the informal ending of this paper. I am frustrated with the idea that I was completely shown Whos Boss by Descartes and Russell. To be completely clear on what the thesis of the paper is, we cannot demonstrate the existence of an external world. I may be dreaming that I am writing this paper, and frankly I hope I am. There is no way to distinguish between real life and dream life. There is not a way humans can prove that there is or isnt an external world like lays outside the mind. To continue with the topic of this paper, there is no harm in doubting external lifes existence. Unless of course, you wish to defy gravity by jumping off a bridge and landing head fist on blue Cadillac, or if you want to go on a mass murdering-spree simply because there is no way to demonstrate an external world, and that strongly believe that you are dreaming. I strongly advise against these methods of proving that there is or isnt an external world. All we can do is try and understand the possibilities as best as possible, and do as Descartes; meditate.