Give an account of Descartes' arguments from dreams, being careful to show which beliefs are allegedly undermined along the way.

Rene Descartes (1596 - 1650) was not only a philosopher but also a mathematician and scientist. As a philosopher he used the notion of scepticism as a means to find truth stripped of all ambiguity. In 'meditations one: what can be called into doubt' Descartes states that he shall "doubt everything that can possibly be doubted"1 in order to build a belief system which is indubitable. Descartes attempts to ascertain which of his opinions are false, not …

…able to tell if we are asleep and so the argument from dreams is inconsequential. The problem with such a theory is that we have no criterion by which we can test it. All this seems have achieved is to set a new challenge, to prove this theory as opposed to disproving Descartes'. In conclusion, it would appear that there are "no conclusive means by which one can distinguish between being awake and being asleep"1.