The Meditations of Rene Descartes In 1916 Rene Descartes wrote "What I wish to finish is . . . an absolutely new science enabling one to resolve all questions proposed on any order of continuos or discontinuous quantities." (p8 Methods & Meditations). He made this ambitious statement at the young age of twenty-three. Rene's ambition would take him far but it kept him from becoming the Aristotle of the modern age. The Meditations were an attempt to solve the many questions about life, existence, and God. At the time of their publishing many philosophers did not quit accept his writings. Today however the Meditations are widely read and reviewed throughout the world.In the First Meditation Rene begins by stating that he know doubts his previous views and is forced to take a serious look at what he considers to be true. Rene will go as far to doubt God and whether he is truly good. His First Meditation will end with Descartes seemingly troubled over the nature of God. The meditations continue with his questioning of almost everything important to existence. Rene seemed unable to admit anything as truthful. The mind is something of great weakness and error, Descartes would say. He would continue and urge us not to trust what we see because there is no way of being certain about anything. Methodological doubt was his basis on life claiming that everything is to be doubted. Rene Descartes first begins to come to some kind of belief by the Third Meditation. Rene states . . . "I am certain that I am a thinking being; but do I not therefore likewise know what is required to make me certain of something?" (p113 Methods & Meditations). He goes on to say that God could not possibly be deceitful, it would not be his divine nature. This is when things start to come together for Rene. After acknowledging that a divine God could not possibly be evil Rene goes even further to say that he (God) must exist. This equation sounds strange ...
