Cartesian Meditations I, II and VI

Descartes’ first meditation outlines his system of radical doubt that ultimately leads to the rigorous rational foundation on which the ensuing meditations rest. The method is both wise and thorough for delineating what one actually knows and is an important prerequisite process for serious reflection and introspection in general. By offering a technique for the general demolition of opinions, Descartes ensures that any weak foundations in his thinking will be exposed and thus up for criticism and reconstruction. The technique invokes the thought of a clean slate or an empty canvas on which one can begin to construct an individual epistemology – a most valuable asset for any thinker.

On Science

The following is an attempt to, after years of education in the subject, articulate a general idea of what science is and how it is conducted. Formerly known as natural philosophy, science is foremost a discipline in which natural truths are sought. However, what is true is not only bound by the ordinary rules of logic, but also by the constraints of measurement and the extent of inquiry. To my knowledge, this was most clearly articulated by Kuhn, who stated that science progresses by theoretical and instrumental means and in relation to the ebb and flow of paradigms. Speaking to the former, that is, theoretical progress, a scientific discipline can move forward as a result of a new conceptual problem arrived at through examination of the formal aspects of a theory. In Kuhn’s view, this would be one way to incite a paradigm shift or to at least contribute to a more full articulation of a pre-existing, established paradigm.