Society & Culture
Fr Francis on René Descartes: "In conclusion, we can ask whether Descartes' thought 'I think therefore I am' proved as much as he thought. Descartes' thought that his doubt about the existence of the world came to an end with the certainty of his own existence. But other people have thought that it proved no more than that he existed, that it led into solipsism, the view that I am the only person who exists because I am only conscious of myself. Descartes forgot that he could not have had this thought without his body, because he had conceived it with words which he had learnt from other people by hearing with his ears what they uttered with their mouths. As a student once observed to me, if the world did not exist, Descartes could not have existed. Perhaps it is not so clear that we can think the world is an illusion, and our senses are more liable than Descartes allowed." Visit Totus2us.com for more.