Postscript: On Descartes' Project

The initial essay on conviction formation mentioned René Descartes as a starting point for modern philosophy. From here, his project can be seen in a different light.

It stands apart in that it aims to move beyond conviction formation to a kind of reasoning grounded in a firm, unshakable foundation.

For such a project to succeed, it would require a form of conviction that remains stable across time, attention, and changing circumstances.

Descartes’ point of entry is the argument I think, therefore I am (cogito ergo sum). In this, the act of thinking is taken to establish the existence of the thinker as a thinking thing.

From there, he argues that within this thinking there is the idea of God as a highest being. Such an idea, he claims, cannot originate from a finite and fallible being. Its presence therefore becomes a proof of the existence of God.

Since God, as the highest being, is good and would not deceive us, what we clearly and distinctly perceive can be taken to reflect what is, apart from errors of the senses and of reasoning.

For this line of reasoning to hold, each step would need to convince in an equally unshakable way. In Descartes’ account, logical reasoning is taken to provide such a mechanism.

Neither Descartes nor subsequent attempts have established such an unshakable foundation. Difficulties arise at each required step.

Such a foundation would give us a form of conviction that holds independently of the conditions under which it arises.

Conviction formation would become a ladder to a form of reasoning that no longer shifts once reached.

In the absence of such a foundation, conviction remains a balance of interacting forces.

The significance of Descartes' project lies not only in its ambition, but in the expectation it establishes: that conviction might rest on a single, secure foundation, stable across all cases.

One cannot but admire the idea. Descartes' project, if it ever succeeds, will be a profound change to how humans reason and live.