Descartes and Hume A Look at Skepticism and Finding...

Renà © Descartes was a skeptic, and thus he believed that in order for something to be considered a true piece of knowledge, that â€Å"knowledge must have a certain stability,† (Cottingham 21). In his work, Meditations on First Philosophy, Descartes concludes that in order to achieve this stability, he must start at the foundations for all of his opinions and find the basis of doubt in each of them. David Hume, however, holds a different position on skepticism in his work An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding, for he criticizes Descartes’ claim because â€Å"‘it is impossible,’† (qtd. in Cottingham 35). Both philosophers show distinct reasoning in what skepticism is and how it is useful in finding stability. Descartes begins the excerpt by†¦show more content†¦This then leads him to question the existence of God, and then whether he himself truly exists as well. Descartes concludes his claim in stating, â€Å"So after considering ever ything very thoroughly, I must finally conclude that this proposition, I am, I exist, is necessarily true whenever it is put forward by me or conceived in my mind,† (25). Therefore, in spite of everything he is skeptical of, Descartes manages to believe that his true existence is not something worthy of doubt. David Hume’s approach to skepticism is very different from Descartes’ ideas, mainly because he believes that it is not good to become skeptical of everything. Hume feels that there are two different types of skepticism: the type the Descartes follows, known as the â€Å"antecedent† skepticism that involves doubting everything, and moderate skepticism, which Hume feels is the more reasonable form (Hume 36). Hume feels that antecedent skepticism is pointless, and that by simply doubting everything, one is not able to find an answer to what they are looking for because they may never be satisfied with any form of validity. However, Hume feels that mode rate skepticism is â€Å"a necessary preparative to the study of philosophy, by preserving a proper impartiality in our judgements, and weaning our mind from all those prejudices, which we may have imbibed from education or rash opinion,† (Hume 36). In other words, Hume is saying that moderate skepticism is necessaryShow MoreRelatedStephen P. Robbins Timothy A. Judge (2011) Organizational Behaviour 15th Edition New Jersey: Prentice Hall393164 Words   |  1573 Pages†¢ What Are the Consequences of Trust? 390 Leading for the Future: Mentoring 391 Mentoring 391 Challenges to the Leadership Construct 393 Leadership as an Attribution 393 †¢ Substitutes for and Neutralizers of Leadership 394 †¢ Online Leadership 395 Finding and Creating Effective Leaders 396 Selecting Leaders 396 †¢ Training Leaders 396 CONTENTS xv Summary and Implications for Managers 397 S A S A L L Self-Assessment Library What’s My Leadership Style? 368 Self-Assessment Library What’s