Descartes Vs. Pascal Essay -- essays research papers

Descartes vs. public address systemFor centuries, benignant beings have been debating over the validity of the purpose of ground. This is a very, very difficult subject to discuss, as one is labored to study something which is at that moment being utilize in their study. 2 classic thinkers who contrasted on their view of reason were Descartes andPascal. Though both motto reason as the primary source of loveledge, theydisagreed over the competence of human reason. Descartes, the skeptic, saidthat we could social function reason to recover accredited truth if we pulmonary tuberculosisd it excoriately, whilePascal said that we cant know certain truth, but reason is the best source of familiarity that we have.DescartesReason is the tool by which we know everything that we know. But nighpeople make the mistake of basing their reasoning on assumptions which are nonknown with 100% certainty. As Ive said, I am greatly astonished when Iconsider the great feebleness of mind and it s appetency to f all told insensiblyinto wrongful conduct (K&B, p. 409). But it is possible to avoid falling into error if we expenditure the valuable tool of reason correctly. In order to do this and findcertainty, we must find something that we cannot question. This is impossible, aswe can logically doubt anything. A certain truth must be something that is notlogically possible to be false.We must doubt, as that is the only way to find certain truth. It is theonly way to wipe the slate clean of all of the uncertain assumptions which arebelieved and taught in the universities today. Just as mathematics willing lead touncertain assumptions if it is not built on certain truths, so will all practise ofreason lead to uncertain assumptions if it is not built on certain truths.There is a way to use doubt, though, to find certainty. If 100% certaintyequals 0% doubt and we are certain that we can doubt everything, then we can usedoubt as our certainty. We cannot doubt that we are dou bting.With our one certainty, we can now methodically use reason to find morecertainties. For example, we can use the certainty I am doubting to find outthat I exist. If I am doubting, than there must be an I who is doubting,which means that I must be. Like Ive often said, I think, therefore I am.We can relate building on our certainties using rationa... ...e knowledge.WatsonI agree with Pascal on his view of the capabilities of reason. We arefeeble, misled creatures in the midst of a reality which we cannot know.Descartes was correct in his attempt to use mathematical logic to get relieve ofuncertain assumptions and find truth, but he needs to realize that most truth isbeyond our reach. We, as thinking humans, do have the curious ability tostudy ourselves. Yet we have limitations in this study and cannot convey to beable to get a complete grasp of ourselves. Pascal was right on when he saidthat there are no complete skeptics. There are many things which we must accept,using rea son, that we cannot usher with certainty.I dont lean quite as far in Pascals circumspection on his view ofintuitionism. I believe that there is self-generated knowledge which we know withour heart. But this knowledge is only believed correctly when it is rationallyprocessed. As with almost everything, we must find a balance between the use ofreason and intuition. We err on the side of believing unreasonably if we usetoo much intuition, we become too skeptical if we ignore intuitive knowledge.