Epistemology

The model for the rationalists is mathematics and logic, where necessary truths are arrived at by rational inference. The model for empiricists is any of the natural sciences where observation and experiment are the chief motor of inquiry (Grayling 9).

Descartes was a leading rationalist, and his thinking was governed by his knowledge of and dedication to mathematics, which he believed could clear up the confusions and uncertainties of philosophy. In this regard, Descartes wished to attain certainty with reference to the external, physical objects in the world around us. Mathematics, he believed, could help philosophy achieve absolute certainty so that philosophy could then reach final and certain truth. Descartes makes use of mathematics as his model for the method. Descartes has determined that disciplines treating of composite things are of doubtful character, while arithmetic, geometry, and so on, disciplines that treat only of the simplest and most general things while being little concerned as to whether or not they are actual existents, have a content that should be seen as certain and indubitable. Mathematics may be false to the degree that it deals with composites and measures things in the real world, while arithmetic, which t

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Approximate Word count = 805
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page)

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