Jeffrey Alan Beuchert
Intro to Philosophy 4:00 – 5:15
Descartes and Kant
Descartes is considered the Father of Modern Philosophy because his ideas changed
philosophy to the way we know it today. His ideas changed the focus of philosophy from the
field of metaphysics, the study of being, to the field of epistemology, the study of knowledge.
Descartes also believed that rational thinking was the way to get undeniable results. His ideas
influenced philosophy forever and changed the way future philosophers thought. Kant was
inspired by Descartes ideas and was able to use his work as a foundation for new ideas.
Descartes new ideas to philosophy were unlike any before him. He thought that
philosophical proofs should be based off rational ideas. He believed that if we were rational in
our conclusions we could be certain that they were true. One of Descartes first thoughts was
thinking orderly or having a method. He believed that method would produce more rational and
correct ideas. He came up with the idea of methodic doubt, where he dismissed all of his ideas
and beliefs and doubted everything possible. Using methodic doubt, he was able to come up
with new philosophical ideas based only on ideas that were universally true known as priori
ideas.
Descartes used priori ideas, along with rational reasoning, to form a new branch of
philosophy called epistemology where he would search for the existence of knowledge. Before
Descartes, Philosophy was focused on metaphysics or the study of being. One of Descartes most
important ideas was dividing the physical realm, and the mental realm. The physical ream
consists of anything that exists, and the mental realm consists of anything that exists in your
mind. Using methodic doubt, he began to question the existence of the physical realms, thinking
perhaps an evil genius was deceiving him into thinking it was real. If the only way he knew the
physical reality existed is by processing sensory through his mind, there is no way that he could
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Jeffrey Alan Beuchert
Intro to Philosophy 4:00 – 5:15
know if the physical realm is real. If he doesn’t know if the physical realm is real then how
would he know if the mental realm exists either? Descartes then came up with the idea of Cotigo,
which argues that if our minds can perceive ourselves then we exist. Having confirmed the
existence of the mental realm, he then tried to prove the existence of the physical realm by
proving the existence of God. Descartes said that since the idea of God cannot be experienced in
the physical realm it is a priori idea therefore God must exist. He disproving his former ideas
about an evil genius by saying that since God is a perfect being, he wouldn’t deceive us. This
theory was enough to prove the existence of both realms for Descartes, but many philosophers
didn’t agree with his ideas.
Some philosophers had trouble with Descartes ideas. They didn’t believe that he had
convincingly proved the existence of a physical realm. Kant, realizing some of the difficulties
with Descartes ideas, expounded upon them and completed the turn. Unlike Descartes, Kant
believed that empirical thinking was just as important as rational thinking. He thought that both
empirical thinking and rational thinking could be used to find undeniable facts. Using new ideas
Kant built upon Descartes’ idea about the mind and dual realties. In Kant’s mental reality, he
believed there was pure reason, which is our knowledge or sensory relationship to our mind.
Also there is pure knowledge, which is knowledge not gained from sensory. In the physical
reality, he believed in phenomenal reality, (which is reality as humans experience it), and
nominal reality, (which is reality as it truly is). According to Kant there is no way that humans
can experience nominal reality. He also believed that God existed in nominal reality, which is
why his existence cannot be verified.
Descartes’ philosophical ideas during his time were revolutionary. His ideas showed the
importance of rational thinking. They also opened up a whole new field of philosophy known as
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Jeffrey Alan Beuchert
Intro to Philosophy 4:00 – 5:15
epistemology. Kant took Descartes rational ideas and expounded on them using empirical ideas.
His work has also influenced philosophy in a major way.1
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The information in this paper is from class discussion and the textbook Archetypes of Wisdom by Douglas J. Soccio.
Chapters 9-10.
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