The Four Rules of The Truth
Pieter Fourie
CH202.1005 The Modern World
University of Nevada, Reno
TOPIC: Descartes had four basic rules he used to arrive at the truth. What are they? Explain
what each Rule of Method prescribes and give examples for each. How does one go about
following each Rule? How can one tell if one has followed it correctly?
René Descartes, a Catholic French philosopher, scientist, and mathematician composed a set of
rules which are applied easily to one’s everyday life to get an individual to expand their mental
effort and determine what is false compared to what is true. With compliance to these rules, one
will be gifted with the ability of having a true understanding of everything.
Descartes was very confident in his methods of leading something to the truth, with these four
rules being able to completely transform oneself into attaining a “true understanding of all those
things which lie within his powers.” This essay will dive into the four basic rules Descartes
created, going deep into the meaning of each rule and how each of these methods are applied to
one’s life.
According to Descartes, it takes time, effort, and a great amount of contemplation to reach a
comfortable position of forming beliefs that are very distinct and lucid, without making any
mistakes. Descartes believed that God is by no means a deceiver, and following this method will
give one an accurate outcome.
Descartes’ four basic rules should be looked at as a guide, not as compulsory rules, in gaining the
truth. Some might be better at gaining this truth with different sets of reason, but ultimately
everyone has the ability of having doubt-free knowledge.
The first rule, as explained by Descartes, is to not be naive and accept everything as being the
truth. One must carefully “avoid precipitancy and prejudice,” as to not make an error of
knowledge. Sure, one might take something that’s doubtful and use that as a basis of explaining
something, but this is what Descartes’ rule makes great effort in avoiding, as having doubt in
some topic means that you do not have full knowledge on the topic, and that the truth has not
elaborately been revealed to one yet.
What can be defined as pure knowledge then? How does Descartes come to a conclusion on
whether or not something is completely doubt-free? As anything containing “probable opinions”
on something cannot be the real truth, Descartes’ method on this must be to think very rationally
and apply reason. By following this path, the truth can be gained because according to Descartes,
within all people is the power to know the truth.
I believe that application of this rule will be time-consuming and really test one’s patience in
actually sitting down and contemplating the situation you find yourself in. As everything is
coated in prejudice, being doubtful on something will be an unavoidable variable at the
beginning. With this guide, this variable will slowly be ruled out and the truth will be discovered.
An example for this rule could be applying it to decisions made in everyday life, whether it is a
stressful dilemma, or something breezy with little to no risk. Doubt will always a prevalent factor
at the beginning, but one will be confident in their knowledge after application.
Descartes’ second rule can be defined as dividing each current difficulties one has into many
small parts necessary to achieve an “adequate solution.” Basically, one should take each problem
in life one step at a time, and create a “checklist” on sections of a current problem, no matter its
urgency.
According to Descartes, nothing is truly unknown and a solution can definitely be found. As said
before, each person is well endowed with logical reason and capable of discovering the truth in
any situation. I feel that this rule has the most importance, as one could be bombarded with so
many problems at once and find an easy way out with perhaps a loophole or cheat in the
situation. This can have consequences ranging from minimal to devastating, so it’s truly
important to sit down and take each difficulty of problem and deal with it one by one. With this
application, the truth will slowly become clear.
An example in this can be understanding a concept, such as the physical measurement known as
magnetic flux. Just by breaking down the name, the concept can be understood more as it’s
literally the flux of the magnetic force on something occupying a given area. Once you
understand each separate portion of the problem, the truth in this concept will be found.
By marking out what’s not yet known, one’s attention can be fully dedicated to finding the
solution.
Descartes’ third rule is stated as the following: “To conduct my thoughts in such order that, by
commencing with objects the simplest and easiest to know, I might ascend by little and little,
and, as it were, step by step, to the knowledge of the more complex; assigning in thought a
certain order even to those objects which in their own nature do not stand in a relation of
antecedence and sequence.” This rule is pretty complex compared to the other ones, but can
roughly be understood as processing an understanding of something, and reordering it in terms of
what is the truth and what isn’t. By reconstructing the basis of an idea and reordering it, the truth
will start to stand out.
By starting out your search with the most basic and common and absolute ideas that are easiest
to apprehend, you can then start going deeper and building up your analysis.
The fourth and final rule given by Descartes is to make enumerations complete and reviews very
general as to assure that nothing is being omitted. In simple explanation, one’s memory can be
the sole reason for not remembering the steps in your search of true knowledge. It’s quite a slow
process, with many different factors determining your success. Some data may be prevalent from
the beginning, and some not- remembering which is which can be a problem. The thought
process of a problem should be somewhat simultaneously flowing from the one section to
another, and this can be achieved with great practice.
This rule will take the most time in achieving, as it is training the mind to make habit of moving
from one difficulty to another in a given problem, without any mental blanks or roadblocks in-
between. This is where enumeration is used, in an instance such as having to list down a total
number of problems based off the premise that refers the observed sections of the problem.
To be able to gain the purest of knowledge, Descartes’ path is a great application to one’s
everyday life. From being somewhat skeptical on whether something is true or not, to ruling out
what is fundamentally and naturally true and reviewing and synthesizing each part of a problem
one is faced with, these rules created by Descartes will be incredibly beneficial. From being used
for the most minimal of problems, to ones that can determine one’s outcome in life, Descartes
truly believes that each person is fully capable of achieving this, as each and everyone has the
knowledge to- whether it is prevalent in some and not so prevalent in others. Through time and
effort, the doubts can be ruled out and one’s thinking will be so improved to the point that true
knowledge will be found.