Descartes — Using doubt as a method
The question that opens it
Should every belief be withheld whenever error is possible, or is doubt a test used for a particular purpose?
- 1
The First Meditation uses a method of withholding assent from prior opinions whenever there is any reason for doubt.
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This is an evidence-linked editorial account, not a direct quotation.
Meditationes de prima philosophia
René Descartes · 1641 · Adam–Tannery VII, Corpus Descartes digital edition with page markers and original-edition images
Locator: Meditation I, AT VII 17–18
Open sourceDescartes' Epistemology
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Locator: Section 2.2
Open source
- 2
The Second Meditation argues that existence cannot be denied while the very act of being deceived or doubting is occurring.
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This is an evidence-linked editorial account, not a direct quotation.
Meditationes de prima philosophia
René Descartes · 1641 · Adam–Tannery VII, Corpus Descartes digital edition with page markers and original-edition images
Locator: Meditation II, AT VII 25
Open sourceDescartes' Epistemology
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Locator: Section 4.1
Open source
- 3
Immediately afterward, the meditator limits the result by saying that what this existing self is has not yet been adequately understood.
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This is an evidence-linked editorial account, not a direct quotation.
Meditationes de prima philosophia
René Descartes · 1641 · Adam–Tannery VII, Corpus Descartes digital edition with page markers and original-edition images
Locator: Meditation II, AT VII 25–27
Open sourceDescartes' Epistemology
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Locator: Section 4.1
Open source
- 4
The first Latin edition was published by Michael Soly in Paris in 1641.
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This is an evidence-linked editorial account, not a direct quotation.
Meditationes de prima philosophia
René Descartes · 1641 · Paris: Michael Soly, first Latin edition
Locator: Title page and imprint
Open source