Why I Love Descartes

He’s a philosopher who hates on philosophy.

Descartes, Discourse on Method, Part I:

Of philosophy I will say nothing, except that when I saw that it had been cultivated for many ages by the most distinguished men, and that yet there is not a single matter within its sphere which is not still in dispute, and nothing, therefore, which is above doubt, I did not presume to anticipate that my success would be greater in it than that of others; and further, when I considered the number of conflicting opinions touching a single matter that may be upheld by learned men, while there can be but one true, I reckoned as well-nigh false all that was only probable.

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Comments

• January 3, 2010, Brian wrote: Heh. St. Thomas Aquinas says something similar- in talking about whether philosophy alone is sufficient, he basically says (I'm paraphrasing heavily here) that philosophy (by itself) never manages to draw a conclusion.
• January 5, 2010, Hamlet D'Arcy wrote: The original title of "Discourse on Method" was "Why Philosophy Sucks" but he was forced to change it when a bunch of philosophers complained it was too negative.

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This post was by Robert Fischer, written on January 2, 2010.
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