Descartes’ Idea of the “Thinking Thing"

The humans' need to understand the world and the mechanics of psychology has led to the emergence of various propositions from different scholars in different eras. Descartes applied a chain of logic in his arguments by placing all convictions, thoughts, and ideas in doubt. He displayed that his reasoning for any particular knowledge could be false and erroneous and must be doubted. In his quest to argue that knowledge must coincide with certainty, he developed several ideas to explore further the elements of doubt and foundational truths in the universe. His idea of a “thinking thing” provided a solid framework on which he established his arguments on the certainty of knowledge and the possibility of foundational truth outside the realm of mathematics. 

Doubt and uncertainty were the fundamental weapons that Descartes used to find certainty of knowledge. In his journey to unfold the existence of certain knowledge that was clearly and evidently intuit, he used various ideas that invoked doubt. His rationalistic arguments using his methodological doubting were his modes of reasoning with which he would find certain knowledge due to the mistrust of information he received through his senses. Descartes’ conclusion regarding certain knowledge was that it had to be clearly and distinctively perceived as much evident in mathematics. He noted that mathematical truths were assured despite epistemological or even metaphysical assumptions in which he further stated that the addition of two and two will always be four, thus yielding an unequivocal certainty. 

There are six meditations that Descartes used to demonstrate God’s existence and the distinctions between the body and the human mind based on his idea of the “Thinking thing.” However, the third meditation, “the existence of God,” provided a premise on what we can know for certain. Descartes is certain that he is a "thinking thing" that doubts, denies, is willing, unwilling, ignorant of numerous things, understands some things, possesses sensory perceptions, and imagines. He used a radical approach to achieve that certainty by withdrawing his ears, eyes, and senses in order to comprehend his capability to imagine and perceive and which could not be doubted at any dimension. He deductively used reasoning by deeming images from his thoughts as worthless, vacuous, and false, then scrutinized himself deeply to achieve an intimate understanding of himself. He arrived at that certainty using doubt by advancing his affirmation that the elements of his imaginations and sensory perceptions were in no way connected to any existence outside him. However, his acknowledgement of his imaginations and senses as limited to only modes of thinking led him to his certainty about them. In an extension of the aspect of certainty in the third meditation, he acknowledges that he is a “thinking thing.” 

Conclusion 

The opinions and beliefs that Descartes argued were based on doubt with which he used to deduce the foundational truth that stems from the thinking thing. His desire for certainty emerged from his desire to argue that all knowledge should have a level of certainty, as it is evident in mathematics. He concluded that certain knowledge must be clearly and distinctively perceived. Subsequently, the only certainty he achieved in his arguments was that he is a “thinking thing” that had the capacity to perceive and imagine.