What is the significance of Descartes epiphany: Cogito Ergo Sum I think, therefore I

am. Explain how Descartes method of systematic doubt and how he manages to assert his
own existence, the existence of God and then the existence of the outside world.

Epistemology is a branch of philosophy dealing with the origin, nature and scope of knowledge
also referred to as the theory of knowledge. It attempts to answer a very basic question which
is, "How do we know what we really know is true? In other words, how do we distinguish fact
from fiction? French Philosopher Ren Descartes put this very statement to the test by relying
on methodic doubt.
Methodic doubt refers to a way for searching for certainty by systematically though tentatively
doubting everything. Through this process Descartes eliminated all statements and types of
knowledge where the truth of which can be doubted in any way, in the hope of finding some
knowledge with undeniable certainties. By the first half of the 17th Century Descartes was able to
attain a higher knowledge of self-existence and awareness in the act of thinking through
methodic doubt.
This epiphany he experienced enabled him propose the phrase, Cogito Ergo Sum, which is the
Latin phrase for "I think therefore I am." What Descartes proposes is that if he can conceive the
thought to doubt his own very existence then he himself must exist. In his own words, "Yet when
I turn to the things themselves which I think I perceive , I am so convinced by them that I
spontaneously cry out, let whoever can deceive me, he will never bring it about that I am
nothing, so long as I continue to think I am something; or make it true at some future time that I
never existed, since it is noe true that I exist; or bring it about that two or three added together
are more or less than five, or anything of this kind in which I see a manifest contradiction."
This basic yet complex statement can sometimes be perceived and interpreted in the wrong way.
This statement does prove the I as an individual or we as humans do exist. Everything we
see, feel, smell, hear, and taste is only a form of perception through the senses. Essentially
Descartes is saying that what we experience might all be an illusion created by some demon or
Godly being to trick us into believing what we perceive is real. Regardless if this is fact or
fiction, Descartes can affirm himself undoubtedly that he exists because he is able to perceive the
stimuli and is therefore aware of himself and his existence. Based on this I can therefore also say
that I myself as a being also exist. The process itself in writing this paper requires me to be
highly conscious and aware in order to formulate cohesive statements, therefore further proving
that "I" exist.
https://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Cogito_ergo_sum.html
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/descartes-epistemology/#4
http://oregonstate.edu/instruction/phl302/philosophers/descartes-god.html