How did Descartes go out about pursuing only knowledge that could be absolutely certain?
What did he find?
- Descartes was a rationalist, believing that true knowledge is produced by thinking which is reflective, logical, and analytical, independent of our sense experiences in the world, a view naturally reinforced by his training as a mathematician.
- Having had the growing suspicion that much of what he had been taught had been biased, incomplete, or downright wrong, Descartes resolved to employ "radical doubt" for the positive purpose of establishing a "firm and permanent structure in the sciences," not to end up mired in skepticism.
- Rather than using doubt destructively, to simply disprove and undermine ways of thinking, doubt is used constructively, to identify, strengthen, and refine the best beliefs.
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A) True. B) False.
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What will be an ideal response?
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