Philosophy / Philosophy 0366 · Capstone · 2–3 minutes
Descartes, Start to Finish
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One philosopher's single project, reassembled across three units: demolish everything doubtful, find bedrock, rebuild—and meet a princess at the weak joint.
The demolition. Descartes' method of doubt treats anything doubtable as false—not from despair but engineering: a foundation is tested by loading it. The dream argument condemns the senses wholesale: dreaming and waking can be indistinguishable from inside, so experience cannot certify which one is running now. The evil demon finishes the job, a deceiver strong enough to corrupt even arithmetic. By design, nothing survives—almost.
Do not grade the project by its failures alone—fields are founded by ambitious arguments that half-succeed. Both halves are the inheritance, and every unit after this one spent it.
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- Nothing yet depends on this.