Descartes: Truth and Self-deception
What is it about?
The paper examines the role of self-deception in Descartes' Meditations. It claims that although Descartes sees self-deception as the origin of our false judgments, he consciously uses it for his searching for truth. Descartes finds that self-deception is a very productive tool in our searching for truth, since it expands our ability to free ourselves from our old certainties; logical thinking enables us to doubt our certainties but only self-deception enables us to really suspend them. Descartes, then, proposes a logical-psychological method in first person for philosophical investigation, in which self-deception plays a crucial role. The Cogito should be understood accordingly as a first psychological truth rather than a first philosophical truth. Nevertheless, it is a crucial step in Descartes' philosophical investigation and exposes the relations between the logical aspect and the psychological aspect of philosophical thinking.
Why is it important?
The work explores the psychological aspect of Descartes' philosophical method in the "Meditations", and espeically his use of self-deception.
Perspectives
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0031819115000443
The following have contributed to this page: Professor shaif Frogel
