# Discourse on the Method explained — Philosophical Works

> Chapter companion for Philosophical Works by René Descartes.

## What happens

Descartes recounts his method of radical doubt, rejecting all beliefs that could be doubted, leading to the first certainty: 'I think, therefore I am.' He establishes the mind as distinct from the body, uses the idea of a perfect being to prove God's existence, and outlines his plan to explain the material world through laws established by God.

## Themes in this chapter

### Methodical Doubt

Descartes resolves to reject as absolutely false any opinion that could be doubted, including sensory perceptions and mathematical truths.

### Cogito Ergo Sum (I Think, Therefore I Am)

The first principle of Descartes' philosophy: the certainty of his own existence as a thinking thing, immune to the most extravagant skeptical doubts.

### Existence of God

Descartes argues that the idea of a perfect being must originate from a perfect reality, leading to a proof of God's existence and His role as guarantor of truth.

## Character check-ins

### Narrator

The first-person narrator who undertakes the method of doubt and discovers the cogito.

### René Descartes

The philosopher who systematically doubts all previous beliefs to find indubitable truth.

### God

Invoked as the guarantor of clear and distinct perceptions and as the creator of the laws of nature.

## Key lines

> I ought to reject as absolutely false all opinions in regard to which I could suppose the least ground for doubt

Descartes decides to treat any belief that can be doubted as completely false.

_This is the foundational step of his methodical doubt._

> I think, hence I am

The act of thinking proves the existence of the thinker.

_This is the cogito, the first indubitable truth Descartes discovers._

> I was a substance whose whole essence or nature consists only in thinking

Descartes concludes that his true nature is to be a thinking thing, independent of the body.

_This establishes mind-body dualism._

> I clearly recognized that I must hold this notion from some nature which in reality was more perfect

The idea of a perfect being must come from a perfect source, which is God.

_This is Descartes' argument for God's existence from the idea of perfection._

## Links

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