Exploring Descartes' Dream Argument: A Skeptical Perspective

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Adeyemi Fatoye 101050106 PHIL 1301 B Skepticism in philosophical terms is the theory that certain knowledge is impossible. René Descartes’ first meditation surrounds the subject of concerning those things that can be called into doubt. In this meditation, he contemplates three main arguments. Can we trust our senses, the dream argument, and the evil genius argument? The strongest skeptical argument present in Descartes meditation is, do we know that we are not dreaming, otherwise known as the dream argument. This is true because of the supporting premises that Descartes states are that “There are no certain indicators by which we may clearly distinguish wakefulness from sleep”(Rene Descartes, 1641, p. 7). This statement from Descartes is true …show more content…

In addition, the subject itself is of interesting nature as it concerns a concept that is immense and the answer to the question is complex and overwhelming to our minds and the best we currently can do is provide assumptions in philosophical terms. The dream argument is a concept that discusses, in essence, our subconscious, something that is of great interest to us as it is something that we lack knowledge about even though it is defining part of us. And according to Aristotle, “All men by nature desire to know.” (Aristotle, 350 B.C.E, p. 1), something that we cannot deny is that humankind has continually advanced throughout the years. Examples range from, technology like computers or machinery like vehicles. We could also look at our non-material advances like teaching. We human thrive on advancement and are always looking to know more and become more educated. In essence, the reason why Descartes dream argument is so compelling is because it concerns the things that we have always been doubting and in this case, the discussion is about humankind's existence. And that subject is one of the most interesting things that humankind desires to know. It is on par with discussions of how we came to be and the origins of our kind. This is why Rene Descartes dream argument, beyond doubt, is the most compelling of his skeptical arguments compared to his sense argument, which in actuality is connected to the dream argument, and his evil demon argument, which is a sound argument but for it to be true or more compelling than his dream argument you would have to believe and prove the existence of demons which are supernatural beings. In addition, Descartes argument is supported by another philosopher by the name of Sextus Empiricus, who says the same objects

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