All sensory experiences can be doubted. Sensory (empirical) evidence is doubtable.
- all sense experience is produced by an 'evil demon'
- you cannot tell that the experience is false by experience
EMPIRICISM FAILS TO SECURE CERTAINTY
- cannot know whether or not the experience is true or false
because we cannot doubt the origins of our sense experience
POINT 2
Something that cannot be doubted.
"I think therefore I am"
Descartes' realises that when he is thinking, he exists, even if an evil demon is
trying to convince him that he isn't
Descarts cannot doubt that he is thinking
Descartes arrives at his certainty through reasoning and intuition
POINT 3
Descartes cannot doubt that he exists but he can doubt that he is physical
- Descartes only believes he has a body because of sense experiences, but
these are doubtable (evil demon)
POINT 4
Descartes offers 3 options for what might cause our experiences of physical objects
1. Real world
2. God
God is the creator of (false) experiences of physical objects
because he would be decieving us.
3. Evil demon
God is no deciever because he's not a demon - because God would be allowing
a demon to convince us of something false, but god isn't a deciever
CONCLUSION 1
Because god is perfect, he is not a deciever, so if god exists
there must be an external physical world
CONCLUSION 2
There must be a self + physical world because both can be justified through rational
intuition and demonstration. As long as god exists, sense experience cannot reach this
proof, because it is doubtable.