Analysis Of Descartes Dreaming Argument - 812 Words

Descartes dreaming argument suggests that perhaps our senses cannot be fully trusted because we cannot be certain we are not dreaming, and this means we therefore cannot be certain of anything. His evil demon argument is similar but uses the idea of an evil demon deceiving you instead of your senses. These sceptical arguments mean that we cannot be certain of anything at all for it may be happening whilst we are dreaming, or we are being tricked into thinking it is happening. I do not agree with Descartes because I feel that I can be certain I am not dreaming, and I do not believe that other supernatural creatures; such as an evil demon exists. In Descartes’ First Meditation, (Reason and Responsibility, Feinberg and Shafer-Landau, 2015,†¦show more content†¦This is also means that I do not think his argument is sound. An argument is â€Å"sound if and only if it is both valid, and all of its premises are actually true† (Internet Encyclopaedia of Philosophy, Ano nymous 2017). This means that the dreaming argument is not a passable philosophical theory because it is not sound- however, philosophy is based on individual’s perspective which means that some people may find the dreaming argument valid and sound and therefore a good philosophical theory. Descartes’ Evil Demon argument is the idea that instead of his God deceiving him- because he is too good to do so – that perhaps there is an evil being of a similar power to God who is in fact deceiving him to believe falsehoods as fact (Reason and Responsibility, Feinberg and Shafer-Landau, 2015, 242-244). The premises for this go like 1. If I am to be certain of anything I need to be certain I am not being deceived by a powerful evil demon, 2. I cannot be certain I am not being deceived by a powerful evil demon, therefore 3. I cannot be certain of anything. This is harder to argue against because there is no evidence for an evil demon existing- however this does not stop Descartes from believing in God. 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