DESCARTES AND SKEPTICISM

MARJORIE GRENE
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Corespondence to: Depaent of Philosophy, Virgnia Polytechnic In
sttute ad Stte Univerit, Blacksburg, VA 24061.
1
"Hyperbolica" is te ten Descaes uses in te Meditation to refer to
h metod of doubt: see Oeves de Descartes (ereaer, 'T," cited wth
volume ad page number), ed. Chales Ada ad Paul Taner, 12 vols.
(Pas: J. VrCNRS, 1964-76), 7:89. Unless oterwise indicaed, traslations
ae fom T Phosophical Wrtings of Descar (hereaer, "CSM, " cited
wit volume ad page number), taso John Cot, Robert Stootof,
ad Dugad Murdoch (Cabrdge: Cabrdge Univerit Press, 1985-1991).
Gueroult exlans the sigcace of ths ten: "Methodologica ad system
atc doubt, which is fctve ad proceeds not fom things but fom the resolu
tion to doubt, dfr for te doubt which result fom te nature of tings
ad ca engender skeptcism. . .. I is because of it systemaic ad genera
ized chaater tat it deseres te nae hypebolic, i accordace with it et
yolog, fom hyeole, excess; in rhetorc it desigates a fgure by whch
one gives te object in consideration a higher degee of someting, wheter
positive or negative, it does not possess in actuait"; Maia Gueroult, Des
cartes' Philosohy Intereted Accorin to the Ore of Reaon, to
Roger Aew (Minneapolis: Univerit of Minnesot Press, 1983), 1:20; Des
cartes selon L'Or des Raison (Pas: Aubier, 1968), 1:40-1. Gueroult pro
ceeds to exlan how this hyperbolic chaacter exlans the naure ad order
of te doubt in te Ft Meditton. I is unforunae that the Cabrdge
traslator render "hyperbolic" a "exaggerated," thus missing te technica
rhetorca sigcace of te ten, which Descaes would cery have
been awae of: CSM, 2:61.
2 Myles Buryeat, "Ideaism ad Greek Philosophy: What Descaes Saw
ad Berkeley Missed," Philosophical Reiew 90 (1982): 3-40. On te novelt
of needing a proof for the exstence of the extera word, see Vincent
T Reie of Metaphysics 52 (ach 1999): 553571. Copyrght 1999 by T Revie of
Metaphysics
554
MARJORIE GRENE
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Caaud, "L'esistensa dei cori: e u prncipio delIa fsica caesiaa?" in Des
cartes: Pncipia Philosophiae (6441994), (Naples: Vivaium, 1996), 153-
79. I it is objected tat in Outlines oi Prhonism, 72-5, Sexts does rase
questons about extera object, it should be noted that it is the dogatst'
teories that he is exg; this is not pa of his own skeptica agument in
book 1. 1 a gratefl to Gisela Striker for caling my atention to t pa
sage.
3 See te prefae to the French edition of the Pnciples, AT, 9(2): 14.
4 I fact, according to Descaes' disciple Rgis, whom Gueroul cites in
the pasage quoted in note 1 aboye, only natura doubt ca generate skept
cism; there is no such dager in methodologica or hyerbolic doubt.
5 See T Oginal Sketics, ed. Myles Buyeat ad Michael Frede (In
diaapolis: Hackett, 1996). A different way of contrating Descaes with the
acient skeptcs is presented by Stephen Gaukoger in h recent biogaphy
of Descaes a welI a in a paper on acient skepticism: Descartes: An Intel
lectual Biography (Oxord: Oxford Universit Press, 1995), 309 ad "The Ten
Modes of Aenesidemus ad te Modes of Ancient Skepticism," Brtish Jour-
DESCARTES AND SKEPTICISM
555
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nal for the Histor of Philosophy 3 (1995): 371-7. Gaukoger agues t
te acient skeptics were not skeptics a al, but relativist. While b discus
sion in the Descaes book contans sore te staement, the tesis seems
t me on te whole confsing raher t il te genera positon
ten, wit diferences, by Buyea, Frede, ad Baes in te aoye collec
ton appeas to me much more convincing in ay event, 1 a t it a the
bais for my exposition here.
6 That is, unless we tae seriously te position of Rgs, refered t in
note 4: according to h, while n doubt encourages skeptcism, hyper
botica doubt in fact prevent it: Piere Rgs, Rone a M. Huet, cited by
Ma Gueroult, Descartes selon l'orr des Raisons, 1:41. I Rgs is cor
rect, Descaes wa not a skeptc a al, not even, prmaily, troubled by skep
ticism. That is in efect wha 1 a aguing here it seems to have been clea to
sore interreters aound tree hundred yeas ago.
7AT, 7:351.
8AT, 7:16.
9 AT, 6:289.
lOAT, 7:351 CSM, 2:243.
556 MARJORIE GRENE
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11
Buea seems to hold, for exple, t Descaes lew Plao's a
guments aanst the reliailit of sensation in the Teatets; h only evi
dence i Hobbes's remak tat Plao ad the acient h produced such
skeptica aument, ad Descaes' reply t he lows tese ae old au
ment: AT 7: 171-2. Buea's repl to m objection i that Descaes would
have kown te Acadica of Cicero (erona corunicaon). Ju what
text of Cicero Descaes would have studied, 1 do not low; but in a cae,
the Acadica remaks, rather vauely, that "Plato ad te academicia"
distusted sense ad prefered reaon. That hadly suggest detaled lowl
edge of the Teaetetus, a Buea's text stl seems to me to suggest. Ad
surely there is no evidence whatoever, so fa a 1 low, tat De,scaes stud
ied Plato. H skeptics were Montae ad Cha on, ad atough it i prob
ably possible to reconstuct Sextus fom Montae's Apologie, it seems
highly unlikely that Descaes would have ten the trouble to do so. Indeed,
h fend Plemp remaked of h: "1 have ofen seen h, ad have found a
ma who did not read books ad possessed none, devoted to h solit
medittions ad confding them to paer, sometmes dissectng aa,"
Genevieve Rodis-Lewis, Descares: Biogrphie (pas: Can-Lev, 1995),
124. Descaes could well have declaed, a 1 once head Ca do, "1 a a
unhistorica m."
DESCARTES AND SKEPTICISM 557
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1
2
See E. M. Curley, Descartes aaint t Sktics (Cabrdge: Ha
Univerit Press, 1978); ad Richad Popkn, T Histor of Skticism fm
Eru to Descartes, (New York: Humaites Press, 1964). Popkn uses the
imae of Sto Geore i reference to Descaes on pae 216.
13 Relies to Seet} Objections, AT, 7:549-50.
14 Genevieve Rodis-Lewis, Descartes: Biogrphie, 71. Descaes, Dis-
cour de la Mtde, 4th ed., ed. E. GiIson (pas: J. Vr, 1966).
15 See Popkn, Histor of Sceticism, especialy chas. 3 ad 4.
16AT, 7:172.
17 CurIey, Decartes againt the Sktics. I 1 spea of Descaes a ap
peang to respond to a "Pyrrhonia crisis," 1 a not, of course, seekng to
identif Montge or Cha on ad teir like wit Pyrho or Sexus. For the
puroses of t essay, however, 1 confess to watng to take a certn, rela
tiveIy constat, knd of agument a tpica of taditiona skepticism, i con
t to te new skeptica taditon estalished chiefy by Descaes himself.
558 MARJORIE GRENE
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1
8
This positon seems to me dominat i French Caesia scholahip.
Tae a just one exple aong ma Henr Gouhier, La Pense Mtaphy
sique de Decartes (pas: J. Vr, 1978), 150.
DESCARTES AND SKEPTICISM
559
difference in emphais? Is it just because Descaes wats to go f
ther ad so goes fater? I think noto The diference in technique is but
one exression of the diference in the am of the two ventures. Wat
does each kd of skeptic wat to accomplish? That is my second
point of comparison. Sextus, to take h a tpica of te knd of
skepticism revved in the seventeenth cent, is trag h reader to
be cautious about tring to exlan the hidden nature of Ug. He
wats to show, through the exple of sense-perception, that we have
no cogent reaons to clam to kow natures on te bais of sense. And
then, just a surely, he w show at gea length aso how va ae te
eforts of the intellect to reach sore hidden "truth. " Only amission of
our igoracer perhaps of our second-order igorce: it won't
even do to say we do not kow-only tat as ion wl bring us
peace of mind. Sense is al right if it is limited to the appeaces that
force themselves on us: of course I sense the sweet honey. I I a il,
perhaps it wtate bitter; then perhas I won't eat it, while in the nor
ma cae I w. T is, incidentaly, just the practica use of sense-per
ception that Descates himself alows when he comes to restore exist
ence in the Sixt Meditation. Meatime, however, in h skeptica
persona, indeed, in te whole agument of te Meditations, what he is
doing, a he himself ha told US,19 is fnding a way to lead the mind
away from the senses (ad metem a seibus abducedam), in order
to liberate the al-conquering intellect. Wa he wats to defeat
through h methodologca suspension of belief is the reliace of chil
dren, fools, ad schoolmen on sense a te source of kowledge.
Knowledge comes only through the liberated, mathema mind:
with God's help, it ca kow both itelf ad the laws of that bae,
stretched-out indefnitely extended plenum that He ha created, ad
recreates with ever momento So, even tough it is te senses Des
caes wats to lead us away fom, he ca dms teir evidence ea
ily enough, in order to move towad te other, purely intellectua, knd
of evidence on which, with God's help, he wl be able to rely. Is that
the project of a skeptic, or even of a would-be non-skeptic deeply trou
bled by the theat of skepticim? Remember tat Descaes bega h
intellectua life wit problems of physics, when he met Beecka m
Breda in 1618, ad then, in 16290, dicovered he needed a methys
ica foundation for h physics.20 Another eleven yea later, te
19AT, 7: 12.
560 MARJORIE GRENE
Meditations IOVId6d lhl OuudlIOu, Iud66d, 65C65 lOld
M6I56uu6, DOlh lhl l hI5 hy5IC5 W COul8u6d Iu lhl DII6 WOIK,
d lhl l hI5 hy5IC5 W g6Om6lQ.
-
' Il6d, h6 u66d6d lO IdI-
CIZ6 5K6lIC gum6ul5 Iu OI06I lO ChI6V6 Ul a; Il W d-
g6IOu5 d6VIC6, h6 K6W, Dul u6C655OI h HOm 5K6lIC uI-
O56. Il5OH, COmug 65C65 WIlh MOul8g6, h 5um Z6d
lh6 COHlIl. MOul8g6, h6 I6mIud5 u5, dOuDl6d "3 VIIH6I lIgO-
IC6, WhIl6 65C65 dOuDl6d "3 VD6Il VIl.
--
L6l m6 COu0 lhI5 Hud6ul COulIl Dy I66Oug y6l g8u
lO lh6 5g6 IOm lh6 h b6lI65 Ul 1 CIl6d 6lI6I. I I6ly lO
56udI5CCu5lIOuO DVOlIQ, 65C65 I6lI6d.
When 1 sad that the entire testony of te senses should be regaded
a uncertn ad even a fase, 1 wa quite serous; indeed t point i
so necessa to my Meditation tat i ayone i uwl g or unable to
accept it, he w be quite incapable of producing ay objecton tat de
seres a reply. However, we must note te distinction which 1 have in
sisted on in severa pasages, beteen the actions of life ad te invest
gation of the truth. For when it is a queston of orgaig our life, it
would, of coure, be foolish not to trust the senses, ad te sceptcs
who neglected huma af ar to the point where frends h to stop
them fal g of precipices desered to be lauged ato Hence 1 poited
out in one pasae that no sae peron ever serously doubted such
things. But when our inquir concer what ca be lown wit com
plete cernty by the huma intellect, it i quite unreaonable to refe
to reject these things in al serousness a doubtl ad even a fae;
the purose here i to come to recognize tat certn oter tg which
canot be rejected in this way ae tereby more cern ad in reait
better lown to U.23
Jh6 ll Clu56, lO COm6 lO I6COgIZ6 lhl C6Hu OU6IlhIug5 WhICh
CuOl D6 I6]6Cl6d u lhI5 Wy 6 U6I6Dy mOI6 C6IUu d Iu I6Q
D6ll6I KOWu lO u5, [Iu lh6 ODgu. a animadveum alia
quaedam, quae sic rejici non possunt, MC ipso esse vea cerior,
nobisque revera notiora) my D6 l6u, i yOuwl, U6l6XllhI565-
5y I5 lQug lO 6luCIdl6. 1 5hl I6D lO Il OuC6 mOI6 Wh6u Kug
Whl Il I5 lhl, lhIOughOul lh6 |I5l d 5uD56qu6ul M6dIllIOu5, 65-
2
0
See, for exple, Geneveve Rods-Lwis, L'Oeve d Descar
(Pas: J. Vr, 1971) or Decartes: Biographie.
21
A
T
2:268; see asoAT, 3: 139; adAT, 3:297-8.
22 Discours, 269.
23 AT, 7:351; CSM, 2:243. Descaes' reference is to AT, 7: 16. Compae
Descaes' sttement here with the ft rule of te Discourse: to accept not
ing tat ca be placed in doubt: AT, 6: 13.
DESCARTES AND SKEPTICISM 561
C85 l0 lD 0DuDl~I, HDm b DIul D VIW, 5uCC00 Iu uDl
0DuDlIug.
M 0X Dml D CD0lIl DlW0 5C85 0 U 5KlIC
lI8IUDu, DI DllI, m uX lWD DIuU, DI 0X DI0l 0 CDIDl8,
CDuCD lh 5KUC5 DD5IUD0 lD 0DU5U 0 0DU5m. T
I5 Il I8 ImlICIl Iu m 5CDu0 DI0l, 8Dul U 8 D U
WhDlulQII5,Dulllm mKIlVumDIDDVIDu5Ih,1 hD,Il
I8 I5.
Jh ChI 8 D U 5KUC 0lQD5 I5 lD 0I5CI0Il dogmata,
U lg0 hI000 UuU5 D DUI mD5DhI5, I0 DI0I lD lIV l
CWIUUhuDm0,WIUU0m05DVQ0. 5C85
ChI 8 I5 t Ih b 0D, b hI000 Ulh, 0 lD hD0 i 8-
C U uV DI5 D VQ0 lI uU Ul lDU h Du l0
D 0 gI0 WIU U 5uDDI CIUQ Il DI05 lD UD5 WhD
hV 5uCC55Dll CDmll0 UII L85I m0IlUDu5. Ll u5 lDDK
lIlll mDI ClD5QlU Iu0Iul5DU5lWDID]CU.
tII5l. lh DD]Cl D 0DuDl. Jh 5KlIC5 0DuDl U I5lmIC I0-
DD D DDU 5u5 0 IulllCl. tIh5 U 5u55 WDul0ul D 5D
D0 i W 0I0ul t t lK Ihm lDQ. IDV0Iug u5 WIU
0DI0lIDu 8DulUnaturs D Ug5. 0lllCl I5 Vu WDD, hDW-
VI. ]u5l lDDK l U CDuIClIug lIDu5 hIlD5DhD DI D
t, Ul 0 VQg. bXu5 Outlines oi P Mnism, WhICh
Ihm5lV5 IuClu0 llCK5 Du hIlD5DhIC UDD5, 5uCC00
D WhDl WDIKAgainst th Logician, DUIAgainst the Physi
cists, 0 lhII0Against t Ethicist. Il0, 5C85, lDD,I5l-
UCRug CCIm [huO5O[hC [O5lOu5 [mDIC O Ul u mDmCul),
0 lD 0D lhl h u55 5KlIC 0VICC5. Dul D u5l 5u5-
D0 DlI5, uDl gu5l ulllCl. l I5 X5luC Clm5, WhICh l
Il ullImll Du 5u5DQ IuDDlIDu, lhl lh 0mDu lDW5 u5 lD
5W 0. LH, IDu C 5D gD lI Dul i hIlD5DhI5
hV gu0 D8l Iu lh l, lhl W ICI5l DCu5 U WI
mI5l0 D ChIl0I5h DI 5ChDDl-DDuu0 IlIC DuIh 5u55. hl 5-
C85 Wl5lD 0D, u, I5 lD l0 lh mI00 W IDm U 5u55, lD
lIDIl IDu 5D lhl W C 5 Cll lh lIuIh5 Ihl WI Iuul
Iu l D u5 l D0g. P0 lD CDmlI5h t, h mu5l l8 u5 lhIDugh
U0gIDu5DI0DmlhD0DlDC0DuDllD U f Du00D I-
5D0. LlhD hV 0 lD 0D lh5 Dul, h ul l i IhDiscourse,
h W uDl 0DuDlIug DI lh 5 D 0DuDlI0g, lIK lh 5KlIC5, WhD
562 MARJORIE GRENE
ae irresolute about ever; b a wa "to reach certnt: to
cat aide the loose eah ad sad in order to reach rock or clay. "24
Of coure, once he aved at that fn gound, Descaes would
not have caled what he found there a "doga" in our sense, nor even
in the skeptica sense: that is, a opinion about hidden things to which
other opinions could aways be opposed. Descartes' "truth," he (like
other dogmatic philosopher) would have clamed, wa the truth, evi
dent to all with sufcient discipline to gap it. The point here, how
ever, i simply that it wa the senses ad not reaon whose authorty
he sought to undene throug the hyperbolica doubt. The skep
tics, in contrat, were just a keen to question the epistemic powers of
reaon a of sense, or of ay combination of te two.
Second (still on my third main point of compason), consider the
status of the everday in the two projects. The am of the skeptics is
to liberate the everday fom the confsions generated by ay seach
for something hidden, whether suggested by sense or reaon or both.
The am of the Catesia enterrse is to sweep aide al everday be
liefs, to clea the mind for the reception, or the asertion, of those
trths that lie behind the blooming buzz of appeaace. Of course
those everday matter will be reinstated in a lesser, merely practica,
role once the pure intellectua truths of Caesia philosophy have
been lad bae: the self, God, the essence of materal things, ad their
extence u their refned, purely geometrica nature. Yet for the L-
tesia enterrise, even, presumably, for its ultima te issue in practice,
in mechaics, medicine or morait, the appeaaces of everday ae
not only seconda, they ae downrght dagerous. We must follow a
difcult ad circuitous path, suspending our trust in them, until we
reach the highroad of metaphysica certnt. And they will never
aan be what they were, since much of them-colors, tates, sounds,
smells-will have been withdrawn from things themselves ad
placed forever in a little comer of pure subjectivit. 1 only seem to
tate the sweet of honey or see the red of autumn leaves or feel the
heat of the tre. How things appea is relegated to a seconda place
24 AT, 6:29. Or a he put it i te faenta Rchh d la Vet, " . .
. a timidit of t knd h prevented most men of letter fom acqu a
doctrine tat wa solid ad asured enough to mert te nae of science,
when, imag t beyond sensible t there would be nothing solider
on which to place their confdence, they built on t sad, instead of digging
deeper, to fnd rock ad clay"; AT, 10:112-13 (r tralation).
DESCARTES ANO SKEPTICISM
563
CDD[I60ID DDWID6I6 6, WD6I6DIID6 5K6[IIC, 5D W6
C I6, DDW ID6 [[6 I5 W6 I6 DV6, 0 W6 D0 D6II6I DDI,
ID0660, CDDI D0DD IDD56 [[6C65WDICD 0D, 65C865,
IDD, 0DII5, DIC6ID6D56V65U[DDU5~DIID65K6D5Dm6 0I68D
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D6 CD60 IDI 65CI65 I5 ID0660 DDI6 5K6[IIC DDUI ID6 56D565
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5IDD[ ID 0D.
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D0DUDI 6 0I6I6DI, 0 ID6 5UIU5 D [[6C65 I5 U 6I6DI. tI-
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WDD66DI6QN56I5 0I6I6DI. ID6 5K6[IIC5 6 IIDg ID K66[ U5 DDU6
6V6 DID606D05D6V6Q0I6 06I6ID6VD56CDDI
0DgD, DIDI006DIIUID. 65CI65 I5 IIIDg ID gUI06 U5 W IDD U6
6V6I0 CD5 D 56D56 ID I66CIIV6 6V6 I WDICD [UI6 I6DD,
WIID ID6 D6l[ D LD0, C gV6 U5 56CUI6 KDW60g6 DDUD6V65 0
DID6 DI6II CI6IIDD. 3D6 5K6[IICWDUl0 DI5D ID6 6XI0ID8
DI ID6 5K6 D ID6 DI0ID8, WIID 65C865 II I5 ]U5I ID6 DU6I W
DUD0.
m DUDD [DIDI D CDD[85DD, DI CDIDl8 D U6 IDII0, CDD-
C6D5 ID6 [C6 DPI5IDI6 ID ID6 IWD 6DI6QII565. tDI U6 5K6[IIC5,
PII5IDI6, 8DDg DID6D, [IDVI065 U56D 6x[65 D 0D@II5D.
hDugh DDI W5 D060, D6 5 C6DD6 DID6 Ig6U Db6XIU55
IICKDD ID6DI65 D[D5IC CDg6, Dg6D6IIIDD 0 CDD[IIDD, D
I65I, DID5[C6 0 IID6.` b6XIU5 I6DK5.
Nor yet ca we apprehend which teories ae tue, which fase, owing to
the equa weight of te rva opinions a well a te perlext rgd
the crteron ad proof. Hence for these reaons we shal be ule to
afay positively about time.26
25 Outlines of Prnism, 3:100-15. See aso, for exple Outines of
P honism, 3:136, where Ate i counted aong wit S, Epicus
ad other, aong tose who have set up contctor ad hence unbeliev
able theores of te. See Buea, "The Sceptc i h Plae ad Time" for
discussion of te ati-Atelia aument on sae ad tme.
26 Outlines of Prhonism, 3:1390 (oeb traslation).
564 MARJORIE GRENE
NOW Il I5 lh6 A5lOl6lII5m O lh6 oChOOl lhl 65C65, lOO, I5 l-
l8Kug. Whl h6 hO6d, h6 COuHd6d IuM6I56uu6, W t h I68-
6I5 WOuld DdOu U6II A5lOl6lII5m WIUOul KOWg lh6y h
dOu6 9O.
-
' Jh6 gOOdM mu5lK66t 56CDl, Dul lhlI5 WhlU6
Meditatio W6I6 MOul. 165, O COm6, hVg WOIK6d OuI Wy
lhIOugh U6m, W6 WOuld hV6 56CuI6 KOWl6dg6 O U6 6XI5l6uC6 O
Od [KOWl6dg6 W6 hV6 Wy5 O556556d, I6ly, 6V6u D6OI6 W6
D6dOuI ll6ulIOuIO6Ily, lhl I5, Iulh6 IIghl OId6I, lO lh6 AulhOI
O OuI 6Iug) d O lh6 I6 dI5lIuClIOu D6lW66u mIud d DOdy
[WhICh Iu D WOuld gV6 u5 gOOdI6Ou, 5O, lO 8C6l Whl W6-
Wy5 CC6l6d yhOW Ou 8U, lh6 mOIUIQ O lh6 5Oul). Jh6
d6665l mion d'etr O lh6 WhOl6 uud6U, hOW6V6I, W lO 65-
lDlI5h lh6 OuudlIOu5 OI u6W, mlh6mMIChy5IC5. oChOlLIC
hy5IC5 D6g WIlh lh6 DuCIl6 lhl uOlhIug I5 Iu lh6 Iul6ll6Cl Ul
h uOl D66u Iu 56u56, 5O U6I6lI8C6OChldI6uOu U6II 56u565 W
Vl6d Dy lh6 l68hIug5 O U6 oChOOld O A5lOll6, lh6II hI-
lO5Oh6I. Jhl I5 Why lh6 mIud mu5l D6 l6d Wy HOm U6 56u565. lO
D6l6d, d65Il6 Il56l, WyHOm A5lOll6.
oOlI-A5lOl6lI5, 6lh65K6DC58d65C6586I8 l
Ou67 L6HyuOl. ODD65d65C65OI56udId65C65
W6I6lI-Al6lI5, d uO 8I5OUuK6DCOuldD6DU6DI6u6-
mI65. ud66d, Iu lh6 C6 O UO56 IuImIC OD]6ClOD, 5O u lhl O
lh6 5K6lIC5. Whl U6y Ou lh6 Ou6 hd d 65C65 Ou U6 OU6I
W6I6 6I Iu U6II U W WhOlly d Dud6ully dH6I6ul.
Jh6 5K6lIC5W6I6 lQIug lO dDV6 Oul dOg, IuCludugUl O A5lO-
ll6, 65C65 W lQug lO uud6ImIu6A5lOll6 Iu OId6I lO 65lMl5h
h OWuu6W5IC5WIU Il5hd-WOuDulOI6V6I5uI6dm6lhy5-
ICOuudlIOu.
-
h6Wu5Iug5K6lIClOy5t I6Dl65K6lCI5m,
h6 W u5Iug lh6m ChI6Hy, 1 D6lI6V6, t I6Dl6A5lOU6. 6 COuld uOl
OIdlOm6lhl8mOCI. lWOuld D6 d86IDu5Ih6LDDC8 y
h6 WOuld lO56 h udI6uC68d 6Ih5 6V6u 6DOu8 y. h6 00l
270n Jaua 28, 161, Descaes wt to Merene: "Je vous d, en
t nous, que ces s Mditon contenent tou les fondement de m
physique. M il ne fat pa le d, s'il vous plat c ceu qui favorsent Ar
istote ferent peut-te plus de difcult de les aprouver, et j'esere que
ceux que les lisons, s'acoutumeront inseniblement a mes prncipes, et en
reconnateront l vert avt que d'apercevoir q'ils dtnt ceu d'As
tote" AT 3:297-8.
2 See Daiel Gaber, Decar' Metaphysica Physic (Chicao: Uni
verit of Chcao Ps, 1991).
DESCARTES ANO SKEPTICISM 565
Wl lD D5K UlD IlD. I5CIU, hDWVI, i hCDul0guI0
Um W IDm UII DlI Iu U DDDQ D 5u5-ICUDu, h
mIghl D Dl lD DDug h 5ChDlUC CDulmDI5 Duu0 lD h
DWu VIW. Il W, 8I l, lh lDU Ul l mu C 0 WIlhIu Um-
5lV5. M mghl, h hD0 l Du Dul, Vu D D lD gl h H-
cipl Cl0 D5 DI lChuulh 5ChDD5. Mlm, h
hD h0 Du lhl lh Meditation WDu0 DDu 5ChDUC I0I5
Duu0. Jh h0 uDl 0Du 5D, 0 h W lD D 5QCIl u0Igl
lDuI0Iu5WDI0DD]ClDu5,0lh WWIUUJ5uIU uWhICh
h 500 DI lm lD D 00.^ JD Ilm lD U Meditation
Um5lV5, hDWVI, 0 lhII hIDDlIC 5KUCI5m. Il I5 gu5l
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lD5l Iu U 5u55, Iu 8ICul, h lh uu0Dg D PII5lDllI
mlhD0 U 8. NDl, hDWVI, DCu5 0D, 0 l
lIulh hI00u IDm VQ0 llIlu05, I5 DIDI00u, Dul DCu5 U
WIDug 0D mu5l DD0Du0i U lD0DgmI5 lDDl0D.
I mD DD]Cl0lhlVui m gumul5D Cl50DuDlDu
U QDDIl D 5C85 lh XmQ8, Vu lh XlI0, 5KQlIC,
lh0lhDl05u5lU5CDu0CDuClIDu. lhCluID5C85
lh lI5KlIC, lh lhIuKI 0l UDuDl0 D 5KUCI5m, WhD
u55 5KlIC WDu5 u5l U 5KlIC5 lhm5lV5. PI l, h
50 h D0 IDl0 5KlICI5m, 0 h lIKu0 hIm5l lD m0IC
WlI WhD 05CIID5 lh 5mlDm5 D 0I5 DDI h I5CIID5
U CuI. Al 1 hV DI VI0uC I5 Du 5llmul lD hI5 CDu0ulI
CDD5Du0ul,lhlIlWP5lDllII5mhWDullDuu0DIuD
hI5 5KlIC [IDCC0uIC. 1hl 5 IlhCI lIKC 5Iug lhl DCCu5C C5-
C85 ImK0 D hIm5l, "1 CDm DILh mK0, h W5 ml
lhDD5IlD Whl h 50,lhI5l0mlIII5llhl, DuIhI5VW,
h Il W. M 5WI lO 5uCh ChlHg lD m Cl8 WDul0 D
lWDDl0. Lu lhDu h80, Du CDul0IllhlhIlD5DhIC lX
IICh U Meditation C WDIK Du mDI lh Du lVl. 5C85
m Wll D D5hIug IDllIDu D 5KlICI5m WhIl l lh 5
lIm 05lIDIug U hgmDu D P5lDll. bImIll, WhIl 1 DlIV
Ul Il I5 lh Duu0lIDu5 D h h5IC5 lhl 5C85 W 8I |I5l
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lhl h C ]u5l Wll D lKu 0u0I D hlD5DQh
2
9 AT, 3:276.
3 AT, 3:103.
566 MARJORIE GRENE
CDu5I5lul WIU LhDlIC lh. guI D U CDuulDDDlIDu
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CI5m I5 IDDDl Whl h 0I0 Iu Cl DlIV 0 Iu C I5 0
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l lD MDDD5 lIKuIug hI05l lD 00IC WOlI 05CIIDIug lh
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5l H humDlC Sll D 0DuDl, IH DI0I lD Il Du U DI hI5 guI0,
hC u5CS b hCIDDlIC SKlICI5mI UID0 D mlhD0-
OlDgIC 0uIuOI0IlD lD lhDuu0lIDu5D I5lhIlD5D-
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WIlh lhC 5K[lIC WIIlCIS.
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lIC5. NDW ll mC K, DII, Whl 5C85 0I0 uDl 0DuDl Iu lh
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lhIug5 lhl CuDl D I]Cl0 Iu lhI5 W 0 0DI CDu 0
DllIKDWu lD u5
3
1
See Majorie Grene, Descartes (ndiapol: Haket, 1998), 187.
32 See Popkn, Histor of Seticism.
3 Jea de Silon, Les De Vert de Silhon: l'une de Die et de sa
prvidence, l'autre de l'immoralit de l'ame (pas: L. Sonniu, 1626).
DESCARTES ANO SKEPTICISM 567
l h W5 5m0 lD m 5Ug luI D U tII5l M0Il-
lIDu lhl 5C85 C8 0I5mI55 8ICul 5D muCh mDI Il lh8
guI5. DuC lh 0I gumul h DW0 h lD CDu5I0I lhl
h m uDl D 5IllIug D lh H Cl0 Iu b WlI 0I5Iug gDW, h
u05 lhl geia Imu, lhu mDI guI5, 80 l mDI uuIVI-
s mUI5, lIK lIDuDm, 80 u Dul lh mD5l guI D l,
0lhmlIC 80 gDmlQ, lH. buIl m8 5KlIC lhIuKD, l
ll D lhmIlIgl0 V0l,WDul00guIIlI5muCh mDI 0uDI-
Du5 lh8 lh 8ICul lhl, 5D lD 5K, 5l u5 Iu lh C. 1l 5-
CD5 Cll h I0IlClIDu DI U mDI IUI t lh l55 uuI-
VI5. MDIDVI, Whu h CDm5 lD mlhmlIC5, Whl hu5 lD
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5 5lIu lh5II5 NDl l l. M m D 0CIVg u5 DDul l lh
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Yet when 1 t to the t temselves which 1 t 1 perceive ver
clealy, 1 a so convinced by tem t 1 sponteously declae: let
whoever w deceive me, he w never brng it aout t 1 a notng,
so long a 1 contnue t t 1 a someting; or mae it te a sore f
t tme t 1 have never exsted, since it i now te tat 1 exst; or
brng it aout that two ad tree added together a more or less ten
fve, or ay of tis knd in which 1 see a maifest contadiction.3
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3 AT 7:36; CSM, 2:25.
568
MARJORIE GRENE
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KDW lhl Z+=b LI 0D U uDl I8 KDW lh fl 5W D Lu-
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3 On te limittons of te demon's power, see Riehad Kenn,
"The Finitude of Descaes' Eil Genius," Jour of t Hitor of Ida 32
(1971), 441-6. A Kenn aso point out, it is te t Pnpl 1: 5
suggest t we c doubt maemacs. A pa of te sumof te F
Medition, t secton seems to eorespond to the f sugeston aout a
al-powerl God, wleh is not involved in the demon hpotesis. Te de
mon, of eoure, wa aso absent fom te Dicoure, a well a fom te
Pnple. 1 a gefl to Pofessor Rc Velkley for cl my at en
ton to Kenn's acle.
3 AT, 7:125, 414-15.
37 Roger Aew, "Su les septiemes rponses," in Decar: Objectl et
Ronr, ed. J.-M. Beysade ad J.-L. Maon (pas: Pesses Univerits
de Fee, 1994), 122-6, 129-0.
DESCARTES AND SKEPTICISM 569
soning power. T simpl confses fher what is aeay a ver
confsing sitaton. I fat, a Aqi h pointed out in a note cited
by Aew, Bourd had got bot te coure of natura doubt ad te
role of te demon in hperbolica doubt qute wn. Alqui wrtes: " .
. . Bourdin believes tat, according to Descaes, judgment af g
exstence ae caled in doubt for solid reaons, ad judgment a
ing logica or matematica evidence [ae plaed in doubt] only by te
hpotesis of te evil demon. "3
T is a strage tisting of the tth: doubt about tths of ait
metic ad geomet ae mentioned only sideways, so t spea, ad in
pasing, in te First Meditation; te demon is invoked to tae doubt a
fa a it ca go, but only doubt of "judgent af g exstence," not
of tose "af logca or mahematica tt," which ae lef da
gling. And agan, te later ae questioned only "metaphysicaly," by
meas of "sore God" in the Third Meditation, in coIucton with te
cogito, which canot realy be doubted at al. Wy did Descaes not
just point out Bourdin's eror? I a way, he did, by saying tat he had
made it clea he wa praticing only a intellecta, not a practica
doubt-ta goes for te use of te demon in the cae of existence
clams; but what about mathematics? That's just the problem, ad
Descaes is cery not clea in h aswer.
1 ca only suggest what seems t me to be h implicit aswer in
ters of our Third Medittion pasage ad of Aqui's note. The de
mon, not just nat doubt, is needed to suspend exstence clams;
but not even the demon ca suspend the belief in simple, direct at
metica isight. Qny the even more extreme, "metaphysica" device
of "sore God" ca appea to cal i doubt such non-exstentia, intel
lecta certnties, ad lea us to ak, in Descaes' words, "a soon a
the occaion ofers, "3 whether God exst, ad, if so, whether he ca
be a deceiver. Qnly the aswer to tat question w permit us to rely
on our systematic kowledge even of aitmetic ad geomet. But
meatime, could we ever seriously have doubted te cogito or te su
of to ad tree, whenever we entertned such propositions in our
mids: propositions whose dena is a pla contraction? I other
words, could we ever have doubted the clea ad evdent dicta of rea
son itself There is a lot we al kow innately: for exple, a
3 Descaes, Oev Philosophiqu, ed. F. Aqu, 2:952 n.
3AT, 7:36.
570 MARJORIE GRENE
Descaes rerds the Sixth Objector, what thought is, what exst
ence is.40
And look at the notorous tt clea to u by natura ligt, even
before we have fn Iy established the exstence of a non-deceivng
God. Take, for exaple, the causa prncipIe, in its alegedly clear
grap of the t hierachies of fora ad objective realit in their
complex interelation. Moreover, that prncipIe a Descaes under
stood it aso entaled, for exaple, the acceptace of sore knd of
substace metaphysics: ever one kew, Descaes believed, te dif
ference between a substace ad its prncipa attbutes.41 Such dis
tinctions ad such prncipIes have never been caled in doubt, pre
sumably because to asert them is to make the knd of statement
refered to in the "sore God" pasage, whose denia entals a plan
contradiction. I other words, what Descaes did not question in the
course of hyperbolica doubt wa the pronouncements of reaon,
short of their existentia import or of their systematicaly encoded
unit. I is those extensions, to exstence or to systematic scientifc
status (the business of the sixth ad fh meditations respectively)
tat have to be justifed by te aguments concerg the existence of
a non-deceivg God ad the nature, ad avoidabilit, of intellectua
error. But reaon itself ha been serenely in chage al aong. Meta
physica doubt i just a pointer aong the way, but even hyperbolica
doubt, which is to be taen serously, Descaes insists, in a intellec
tua underg, does not touch the secure doman of pure rational
insight.42
That is not, it seems to me, the stace of someone heroicaly
combatig the terble threat of the ce Prhoniene. It is the
stace of a good auus of La Feche, cery the best ad brght
est they ever had, who just a cery never maaged, a he boated
he wa doing, to overthrow al his forer opinions, but who put aide
just a much a he needed to deny, or at leat to suspend belief in, in
order to establish a new, newly mathematica, physics-ad that wa
frst ad foremost the nave trust in the senses a te prma source
4
0
AT, 7:422.
4
1
AT 5:70-l.
4
2
Gaukoger, i the biogaphy of Descaes refered to i note 5 above,
appea to cort a eror sima to that of Bourdin, tng it that rathe
ratics i a pra object of Caesia doubt (Gaukoger, Descares: An In
teUectual Biography, 340).
DESCARTES ANO SKEPTICISM 571
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Virginia Tech
4 The project of exg wha Descaes does not doubt wa sug
gested by Roger Aew i a semina on Descaes. 1 a gratefl aso for b
advice on ealier d of ts paer, ad to Gisela Stker ad Mak Giford
for saving me fom ay more serous eror aout acient skeptcism ta 1
have neverteless committed despite teir help. 1 have aso mae sore
aendment i reply to Myles Buyeat's comment. It goes witout sayg
tat 1 have not ted to follow al or even a good poron of te literare on
Caesia skeptcism; for tose who wat to kow more of t 1 recommend
the ver detled teatent by Rober Wahbrt, "Caesia Skeptcism fom
Mere Possibilit," Joura oft Hitor of Ida 57 (1996): 1029. May of
b remak ae cery corect; whether 1 agee wit b genera conclusion
1 fnd it had to sayo