Descartes' Epistemology. Stanford Encyclopedia

First published Wed Dec 3, 1997; substantive revision Tue Jul 20, 2010

René Descartes (1596–1650) is widely regarded as the father of modern philosophy. His noteworthy contributions extend to mathematics and physics. This entry focuses on his philosophical contributions in the theory of knowledge. Specifically, the focus is on the epistemological project of Descartes' famous work, Meditations on First Philosophy. Upon its completion, the work was circulated to other philosophers for their comments and criticisms. Descartes responded with detailed replies that provide a rich source of further information about the original work. He indeed published the first edition (1641) of the Meditations together with six sets of objections and replies, adding a seventh set with the second edition (1642).

• 1. Conception of Knowledge
  • 1.1 Analysis of Knowledge
  • 1.2 Internalism and Justification
  • 1.3 Indefeasibility in Context
  • 1.4 Methodist Approach
  • 1.5 Innate Ideas
• 2. Methods: Foundationalism and Doubt
  • 2.1 Foundationalism
  • 2.2 Method of Doubt
• 3. First Meditation Doubting Arguments
  • 3.1 Dreaming Doubt
  • 3.2 Evil Genius Doubt
• 4. Cogito Ergo Sum
  • 4.1 The First Item of Knowledge
  • 4.2 But is it Knowledge?
• 5. Epistemic Privilege and Defeasibility
  • 5.1 Our Epistemic Best: Clear and Distinct Perception and its Defeasibility
  • 5.2 The Epistemic Privilege of Judgments About the Mind
• 6. Cartesian Circle
  • 6.1 Establishing the Divine Guarantee of the C&D Rule
  • 6.2 Circularity and the Broader Argument
• 7. Proving the Existence of the External Material World
  • 7.1 The Case for the Externality of the Causes of Sensation
  • 7.2 The Case for the Materiality of the Causes of Sensation
• 8. Proving that One is Not Dreaming
• Bibliography
• Other Internet Resources
• Related Entries