Descartes: Objective Proof Of An External World

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Gavin Munro – 140695190
PP – 111
Dr. Nicholas Ray TA – Jeremy Roberts
Dec 3, 2016
An External World Exists
There is no definitive proof of an external world, however we can derive evidence of one through our senses and experiences. It is impractical to believe in something based solely on the fact that you don’t know the opposite to be true. To conceptualize what I’m proposing, imagine a person born in a house with no access to the outside world and no way to get out. In this house, there is no color only black and white. The person lives their entire existence in this colorless prison, eventually dying, uneducated of the world of color that lies beyond their walls. How could this person possibly perceive a world different than that of their …show more content…

Since everything that we have ever perceived outside of our minds is rooted in our external world we have quite a lot of evidence to believe that it does in fact exist. The only justification that the sceptics argument has is the fact that we can’t be absolutely sure that what we exist in an external world. Although it might be fun to think about the possibility of our material world not existing; there is too much evidence, such as the two hands attached to your arms, to convince me otherwise.
Descartes believes that we can in fact be certain that there is an outside world. He arrives at his theory by using the “Method of Doubt”, in which he throws out all of his previously held beliefs. He came up with his famous saying, “I think therefore I am.” through this method which is the base of his theories on the external world. The method of doubt:
1. My senses can be deceived.
a. All my beliefs are a result of my perception/experience/senses.
2. I can’t tell if I am dreaming/a demon is deceiving me/god is deceiving me.
C. I can’t trust my …show more content…

He comes up with 3 ways in which he questions our perception of reality, the dream argument, the god argument, and finally the existence of material things. First in the dream argument Descartes argues that only in hindsight can we tell if what we are experiencing is a dream or reality. This is a very relatable way to prove that our senses can’t be trusted as we have all woken up from a dream only to realize we hadn’t won the lottery or scored the winning goal in the Stanley cup finals. The God argument is more of a stepping stone to get to Descartes assertion that an external world exists. Perfection to Descartes is the idea of on object is more “X” than the most “X” thing. God is in this infinite recursive loop of all attributes, and is so perfect that the mind could not conceptualize it. Descartes believes that the only explanation of this thought of God is that God himself put the idea in Descartes mind. Descartes God argument is:
1. I can think of a perfect God.
2. God is the epitome of perfection, such that my mind could not have made it up.
C. God

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