Interpretation of the concept of method in Descartes' philosophy

Volume 4 , Issue 1 , December 2025 , Pages 122-147

Authors

Shangar Jabbar Rashid Saeed Saeed 1 ; Asst.Prof.Dr Batool Raza Abbas Abbas 2

1 Master's student in the Department of Philosophy and Development, College of Humanities, Raperin University, Ranya-Sulaimani, Regional Kurdistan, Iraq.

2 Lecturer in the Department of Philosophy and Development, College of Humanities, Univ Raperin, Ranya-Sulaimani, Region Kurdistan.

DOI logo 10.17656/12002

Keywords

Abstract

This study analyses methods in Descartes' philosophy. Descartes used the concept of doubt for
his method for the sake of reviewing information and avoiding doubt in order to arrive at true
and clear knowledge and wise cleansing of errors dispersion. His doubt is an intellectual
scenario that directs thoughts; he utilizes so much doubt until it reaches the truth. This kind of
doubt begins with doubt and ends with certainty. In Descartes' view, the method they used was
doubt but it was not an absolute doubt, rather a temporary doubt so that they reach certainty.
Descartes sets four laws for doubt, which is certainty and true knowledge, following and
achieving the truth of these laws are the law of certainty, the law of analysis, the law of draftinginterpretation, the laws of review or statistics. These four laws are derived from the spirit of
mathematical science that rejects vague identification. The method that Descartes wants to
investigate systematically is that logically everything can be doubted, something that we have
always accepted as truth. First, Descartes doubts the senses, the intellect, and the external world,
then towards Certainty proceeds on the principle that all perceived doubt must be rejected by
thought. When Descartes doubted his existence, he wanted to prove the existence of God. That
is to say, the existence of the outside world is the three assurances of the general framework to
include the details of Cartesian philosophy that finally became the foundation of modern
philosophy. His approach has had a lasting impact on philosophy and scientific method.

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  • First online29 December 2025
  • Published at29 December 2025

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