René Descartes was a famous French philosopher of the 17th century, he is even considered the father of modern philosophy. In addition to becoming a philosopher, he was a mathematician, a scientist and even a metaphysician. Descartes was born on March 31, 1596, in the city of Descartes in France. Descartes was born to a well-educated, upper-class family. Being part of a wealthy family, Descartes had the ability to use money as he wanted and live comfortably. Descartes never married, but had a daughter with one of his servants. Her name was Francine and she and her mother lived with Descartes, but Descartes always introduced Francine as his niece to other people who met her. During his early years, Descartes attended school and was expected to follow in his father's footsteps to become a lawyer, but he also served in the Dutch state army. After choosing to avoid becoming a lawyer and serve more time in the military, Descartes decided to pursue ways to make new discoveries in mathematics, fulfilling his new quest to become a mathematician. In addition to mathematics, Descartes created innovative new ideas that changed the way scientists work today. He was inspired by a series of his dreams that led him to adopt new ideas about the scientific method, analytical geometry and, of course, philosophy. Descartes also published his significant thoughts and ideas in several books such as Discours de la mèthode, La Géométrie, Les Météores and La Dioptrique. In these books they contained ideas about methods, geometry, meteorology and optics. In addition to having scientific ideas and views, Descartes also had to face some battles that included the Church. If the Church disagreed or opposed his views, there was a possibility that he would get into big trouble. He could have been executed by burning at the stake, so he had to make sure his work was also in line with the Church's views. The reason he had to make sure his work was aligned with the Church was because he was a follower of Galileo's work. Galileo was sentenced to life in prison by the Church because he believed his work went against the ideals of the Church, so Descartes had to make sure his work was accepted by the Church. Descartes' main focus of his philosophy was the idea of ​​skepticism. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The first method of skepticism used by Descartes is simply the adoption of skepticism. Descartes used skepticism simply by questioning the existence of the world. “Descartes was also the origin of the famous phrase “I think therefore I exist” which influenced modern philosophy.” (Khannous, Morocco World News) This means that Descartes believed and even thought about something, before any action of existence, which in a way seems self-explanatory. But Descartes also refutes skepticism. Reject skepticism by not only doubting human beings, but instead also doubting the universe and all things that exist in the universe. There is an analogy that represents how Descartes feels about refuting skepticism, he uses the idea of ​​"bulldozers", meaning destruction. “Descartes' methodical innovation consists in using demolition for construction purposes. When the force of a bulldozer prevails on the ground, its effects are destructive. Where the firmness of the ground resists the force of the bulldozer, the latter could be used constructively, using it to reveal that the ground is solid. Descartes then uses skeptical doubts to test the firmness of proposed candidates for the foundations of knowledge.(Hatfield, Stanford) There is also the use of skepticism, specifically known as Cartesian skepticism. “Cartesian skepticism is the problem of explaining how knowledge of (or justified belief about) the external world is possible, challenging that we cannot know (or justifiably believe) the denials of skeptical hypotheses.” In Cartesian skepticism there are many doubts that seem to remain, meaning they do not vanish because they will still exist in the universe. Descartes also used the idea of ​​empirical beliefs. To strengthen his arguments and beliefs, he uses the help of research and empirical beliefs to gain more support. “Descartes consistently conveyed to his readers the impression that he underestimated the significance of empirical evidence and science and that he was eager to substitute 'rational arguments' for empirical research.” Because of this, many readers of Descartes actually become confused. When they are confused, Descartes' response was: "What I find most strange is the conclusion of the criticism you sent me, namely, that what will prevent my principles from being accepted in schools is that they are not sufficiently confirmed by experience, and that I have not refuted the explanations of others. Because I am surprised that, even though I have demonstrated, in particular, almost as many experiences as there are lines in my writings, and having explained my principles in general..." Thus Descartes uses skepticism with the forms of doubt. Descartes also aims to doubt his beliefs using the term known as certainty. The term Descartes uses to describe this belief would be “certain foundation”. of a world of bodies external to the mind, the dualistic distinction of the immaterial mind from the body, and his mechanistic model of physics based on the clear and distinct ideas of geometry." With certainty, Descartes is able to demonstrate his skills on what it means to doubt and how there are elements of certainty that support what he believes in his ideals and writings. To explain his certainty, Descartes writes that: "Although my nature is such that while I perceive something very clearly and distinctly, I cannot help but believe that it is true, I am also of such a nature that I cannot always hold the mind fixes on the object." same thing so you can perceive it clearly. The memory of a previously expressed judgment often returns to me when I no longer pay attention to the reasons on which I based the judgment, and other reasons can be adduced that would easily cause this opinion to shift if I did not have the knowledge of them. of God. I would therefore never have true and certain knowledge of anything, but only unstable and changing opinions." Having certainty allows Descartes and his readers to realize that truth has no prejudices. “Skepticism is thus defeated, according to Descartes. No matter how many skeptical challenges are raised – indeed, even if things are much worse than the most extravagant skeptic ever claimed – there is at least one fragment of genuine human knowledge: my perfect certainty of my own existence. From this starting point, Descartes supposed, it is possible to achieve indubitable knowledge of many other propositions as well. This means that Descartes does not necessarily believe that there is a God who exists to his knowledge, which therefore foreshadows the idea that Descartes is an atheist. Skepticism gets lost in its meaning because there are many factors that accompany it, such as disbelief and other notions. Last but not least, Descartes has mediation support in his skepticisms. This means that these mediations help support the refutation of skepticism. “In the first meditation entitled.