Philosophical Works · Chapter
In what sense the knowledge of other things depends upon the knowledge of God explained
The mind, having discovered itself, examines the ideas and common notions within it, finding that while attending to demonstrations it feels certain of their truth, but without attention and without knowledge of its creator, it cannot be su
What happens
The mind, having discovered itself, examines the ideas and common notions within it, finding that while attending to demonstrations it feels certain of their truth, but without attention and without knowledge of its creator, it cannot be sure it is not deceived even in what seems most evident.
Themes in this chapter
Skepticism and Certainty
The mind finds certainty in demonstrations while attending to them, but doubt returns when it considers the possibility of being deceived by its creator.
Existence of God
The chapter argues that certain knowledge of other things depends on first discovering the author of the mind's being.
Characters to notice
Key passages
“But when the mind, which thus knows itself but is still in doubt as to all other things, looks around on all sides, with a view to the farther extension of its knowledge, it first of all discovers within itself the ideas of many things; and while it simply contemplates them, and neither affirms nor denies that there is anything beyond itself corresponding to them, it is in no danger of erring.”
The mind, certain of itself but uncertain of everything else, examines its own ideas and avoids error by not making judgments about external reality.
Descartes describes the safe starting point for expanding knowledge.
“Now, so long as we attend to the premises from which this conclusion and others similar to it were deduced, we feel assured of their truth; but, as the mind cannot always think of these with attention, when it has the remembrance of a conclusion without recollecting the order of its deduction, and is uncertain whether the author of its being has created it of a nature that is liable to be deceived, even in what appears most evident, it perceives that there is just ground to distrust the truth of such conclusions, and that it cannot possess any certain knowledge until it has discovered its author.”
While focusing on a proof we are certain, but when we only remember the conclusion and not the steps, doubt returns—unless we know that our creator is not a deceiver.
This establishes the need for God as the guarantor of clear and distinct perceptions.