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Words: | Submitted: Mon Jun 19 2006
... this Descartes explains the need to re-examine science by returning to basic principles in order to provide a demonstration of its certainty. By doing this Descartes arguably removes the possibility of prejudices or stereotypes clouding judgement. Descartes' sceptical arguments assess the role and reliability of sensorial experience or empirical evidence when making valid claims about others, ourselves or the universe. He proposes that such claims cannot lead to certainty because we experience things through the senses, and senses can often be deceiving because they are limited. As a result misinterpretations can occur. Descartes' line of thought has been heavily criticised, however most of these objections are 'irrelevant to what Descartes is actually trying to do'3. Although doubting the reliability of the senses he does not explicitly say that the senses are always unreliable. His arguments are not proposed to out rightly maintain that the senses are deceptive, only that sometimes they ...
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