I agree with Kelsey's post. We have learned this Descartes way of thinking through each of our professors whether they truly support it or not. Talmage, of course, would love this week. I would dare say that this form of doubt is the extension of Plato himself, as he also enjoyed tearing these preconceptions down.
To reference Descartes again as saying, "just as if I had fallen all of a sudden into very deep water, I am so greatly disconcerted as to be unable either to plant my feet firmly on the bottom or sustain myself by swimming on the surface," reminds me of the condition of the human since sin. I believe that many, if not all, humans feel this throughout life, even if subconsciously. The form of doubt Descartes talks about is present in almost all thought, it has just been uncovered by Descartes himself. As an example, it is quite visible in atheism and skepticism, as they doubt the existence of God. Even in Christianity, too, is it evident that anything without foundation is doubted until proven. The degree of doubt varies, most certainly, but the fact that we each doubt something proves that Descartes has merely unveiled a process of the brain that can be both helpful and dangerous.
- Will
(Commented on Meghan's)
I have to agree, of course. I never doubted anything until I came to UM, but I am also blessed by this doubt. To come to the point Socrates came to in doubt by simply knowing that I do not know, and Descartes seems to echo Socrates. While I welcome doubt with open arms, I also fear the dangers of doubt. At what point is doubt no longer a means of discernment and a road toward a shipwrecked faith?
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