Descartes Essay

French Philosopher, Renes Descartes, is considered the father of modern philosophy and is notorious for criticizing any beliefs that are derived from sensory perception. In this essay I will attempt to disprove premise 2 of his dream argument which states that, "no beliefs based on the senses are completely certain and indubitable." I will attempt to disprove the third argument supporting this premise which states that, "there are no certain marks by which the state of …

…dream. In this state, the world around you forms your experiences, whereas in an awake state you actually have control over what you experience (to some extent). Dreaming and being awake can be clearly distinguished by the fact that while we are awake we are able to think critically and premeditate our actions, but while we are dreaming we are unable to do any of these. Dreaming is characterized by thoughtless actions which occur spontaneously.