Philosophy

Rene Descartes I knew that I was a substance the whole essence or nature of which was merely to think, and which, in order to exist, needed no place and depended on no material thing (p. 62).

    In this quote Descartes discusses the nature of reality. Reality for Descartes appears to be a matter of perception. His argument centers around the idea that reality does not need a physical body, or a place to exist, it is simply in the eyes of the beholder. What is real is what Descartes sees. Perception is critical to how Descartes defines this reality, if you can see it, it is real, if you can think of it, and it is real. Descartes discusses reality primarily in terms of his own existence, and focuses on his ability to think, and his independence from other living things as being part of his reality.

    Essentially, this statement argues that to think is to be real. However this makes little sense in terms of other things. For instance, chairs dont think, but they are clearly real. This brings into question Descartes concept of I think therefore I exist and am real idea, simply because things that dont think do exist and are real. One can argue that Descartes is applying this argument on reality merely to the existence of his own soul however, it fails utterly when it is applied to other clearly real living creatures, or inanimate objects.

    I think that this argument could be given more clear definition. If one is to apply it to things outside the soul one should instead argue that reality is what can be perceived with ones five senses. But, in this case it is clear that Descartes is simply discussing the reality of his own being. In his terms, thought is what makes his soul real. He exists because his soul exists, and his soul exists because he thinks it does. This argument is rather convoluted and it is much more complex than it appears to be on the surface. However appearances are deceiving. This is essentially a paraphrasing of the statement I think therefore I am.

    Descartes definition of reality applies specifically to human beings. It truly cannot be applied in any other sense, or manner. He argues about the nature of human existence and perception of reality, not the reality that exists for any other living, or non-living object on the planet. Descartes argument makes sense in terms of humanity but cannot be applied to any other species or inanimate object. Descartes focus on the nature of reality when it is applied to humans because philosophers during his time were more interested in human reality than the reality of other living things or objects.

    Descartes arguments on the human soul were a focal argument in the debates on reality and existence during the 17th century. From todays perspective his arguments seem outdated because we understand that reality is so much more than what we as human beings perceive. According to Descartes definition of reality, if it is not thought of by human beings, if it is phenomena outside their perception, it cannot be real. Thoughtreality in Descartes perspective, but, it is not that simple. While this may be true in the case of the soul, one must uses sense and abilities other than thought to define the reality of things outside oneself.

    Based on this single quote Descartes argument is overly simplistic in many ways- except when he uses this statement to define reality for human beings. The reality of the human soul in comparison to the reality of a chair for instance, seems to be minor and utterly trivial, but, it is clear that this issue is more complex than Descartes makes it out to be. The reality if the human soul is debatable and the ability to think does not necessarily define a soul as being part of human reality. However what one can perceive with thought and our senses is real- for instance a chair is real because we can see it, hear it when it hits the floor and touch it, but, chairs do not have souls. Descartes primary meaning therefore is that the human soul has reality because we, as human beings think that it does. Descartes does not focus on anything outside of human thought or experience which is a very pragmatic perspective to take. It can be concluded, therefore that Descartes defines his reality of as the ability to think and perceive his own existence, independent of any other phenomena.