Descartes clearly states that he perceives it to be quite necessary to question everything in the world around him, and that we should never believe anything we learn from our senses. In his Discourse, Descartes states "I learned not to believe anything to firmly of which I had been persuaded only by example and customs: and thus I little by little freed myself of many errors that can darken our natural light and render us less able to listen to reason. (pg. 15, part 1)." In sternly following his philosophies, Descartes must have missed out on many wonderful things in his lifetime. True as it may be, that our senses can sometimes deceive us, those deceptions can be beautiful and powerful things. The feelings we get when looking at a beautiful sunset, or the colours of the leaves changing in the fall are no less important or meaningful to us just because they may not be completely accurate portrayals of reality. I think they are our reality. If at every instance of life we questioned reality and could not just relax and take in the moment, life may not be worth living because happiness would always be questioned. I happen to feel that many of life's greatest pleasures are in those things that we can perceive only through our senses. Love and religion are perfect examples of things we appreciate by blind faith and trust without the use of reason. To go through life without knowing and experiencing things such as these, would simply be a shame. One would be missing out on a number of worthwhile experiences if they were to question and doubt everything to the point where they could no longer appreciate life's simple pleasures. I would like to think that perhaps there are more important things in life than questioning and denouncing everything that one has been told, simply because it may not be based on the most secure knowledge possible.
I suggest that Descartes should have substituted "I feel, therefore I am" for his famous "I think, therefore I am". Conceivably our senses are not the most secure basis for knowledge, but they provide us with many wonderful sensations that I personally would not be prepared to give up, simply for the knowledge that I really exist. Possibly not every idea needs to be examined, and subsequently accepted or rejected. Conceivably there is such a thing as "gut reaction". What is true for one person is not necessarily true for another. If refusing to question and call into doubt everything that one knows and holds to be important equals remaining ignorant, then I would prefer to be ignorant. I would elect to continue to experience feelings brought upon me by things which I have observed through the use of my senses and instinct, than to appreciate only those few things which can be proved to be absolutely true. A life of obsessional questioning of every single thing imaginable would be incredibly tedious and would wipe out the wonder of enjoyment of invisible joys and gifts of nature. Descartes must have been a very one-dimensional human being and one has to pity him for his lack of ability to enjoy the world around him. On the surface, he appears to be very confident that his argument bears validity, but my personal impression is that he was actually very insecure after all. This proves to me that his theories and the manor in which he proves his theories not to be valid and concrete in any definite Words: 1453
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