ADV MODERN PHILOSOPHY
DESCARTES: MEDITATIONS I & II
STUDY GUIDE
PROFESSOR JULIE YOO
Name: ____________________________________
MEDITATION I (Number each paragraph (¶). In Meditation I, there are 12¶.
Rationale for Conducting the Meditations
1. Why does Descartes’s search for an unshakeable foundation for our beliefs? What motivates
this project – this search for something that he can be certain about? (See ¶1, 2)
2. What is the method by which Descartes proposes to achieve this goal? (In other words,
surely Descartes is not recommending that we examine each belief we have one by one since
we would die well before we examined even a good portion of our beliefs.)
Overview of Descartes’s Method of Doubt
Descartes’s Method of Doubt: group beliefs
according to their “Principles of Formation”
and test according to these arguments:
1. Argument from Misperception
2. Dream Argument
3. Evil Genius Argument
UNCERTAIN
BELIEFS
ALL
BELIEFS
CERTAIN
BELIEFS
Descartes’s Three Skeptical Arguments
Descartes proposes to cast doubt upon the certainty of beliefs gained through the senses.
Towards that end, he gives three arguments, each stronger than the last. Specify which beliefs
are tainted by doubt and which are still untainted after each argument.
1. Argument from Perceptual Mistakes (¶3): This argument only casts doubt upon a portion of
beliefs acquired through the senses, not all of them.
a. Which beliefs go into the “unreliable” box?
b. Which beliefs still remain unaffected?
2. Dream Argument (¶4, 5): This argument is stronger than the Misperception Argument. The
Dreaming Argument casts doubt a greater number of beliefs acquired through the senses.
a. Which beliefs go into the “unreliable” box?
b. Which beliefs still remain unaffected?
3. Deceiving God (Evil Genius) Argument (¶6 – 12): This argument is stronger than the
Dreaming Argument. The Evil Genius argument seems, at first, to cast doubt upon ALL
beliefs. But does it?
a. Which beliefs go into the “unreliable” box?
b. Which beliefs still remain unaffected?
MEDITATION II (In Meditation II, there are 16¶.)
The Cogito
1. What is the one thing that Descartes claims he CAN be certain of?
a. Can one be certain of that belief in the third person case? In other words, is the
following argument acceptable for Descartes: “John thinks. Therefore, John exists.”
Explain your answer.
b. Can one be certain of that belief in when it concerns one’s physical activities? In
other words, is the following argument acceptable for Descartes: “I jump. Therefore,
I exists.” Explain your answer.
2. Descartes claims that he can also be certain of having the the perceptions and beliefs that he
currently holds, even though he may not be sure that they are accurate. Cite the place(s) in
the text where Descartes states this.
3. To be assured of the possible accuracy of the perceptions and beliefs he holds, it is necessary
to prove that there exists a good God? Cite the place(s) in the text where Descartes states
this.