Discourse On The Method Part I

01-27-2026

Overview

Descartes starts the entire text with a bold claim: the fact that everyone thinks that they have good sense is a clear indication that good sense is not distributed. How can it be, he wonders, that people who want more of everythingMoney, power, status, etc don't also want more good sense? It must be then, that good sense is a rarity. Even if plenty of people have good minds, Descartes argues, "It is not enough to have a good mind; the main things is to apply it well". This is easier said than done of course, because no one is perfect. We see a glimpse of insecurity from him, as he admits that even he often wishes to have the wit or imagination of others.

However, that is not the point of the text, and of course Descartes connects to his next main point in this section: so much of who we are is made up of the decisions that we have either made in the past or currently make. These decisions are also very relevant for how we as individuals distinguish between what is right and what is wrong. How do we become aware of our own blindspots? Or, more generally, how do we find the truth if our view is inherently distorted? Descartes found that as he learned and studied more, he became more and more aware of his ignorance. A quote I really like from this part is when Descartes tells us that "the reading of all good books is like a conversation with the most honorable people of past ages".

Clearly, Descartes is a pretty smart guy. In fact, he was just generally knowledgeable. To this, he claims that it is worth it to examine all disciplines, as everything can teach you something, even if it is just what to not do. With that being said, he starts an attack on different specialties:

  1. Oratory and poetry school are simply "gifts of the mind, rather than fruits of study"
  2. Theology can't truly be reasoned about by the human mind
  3. Philosophy has too many disputes among different schools of thought
  4. In other sciences, foundations were not concrete.

The realization that these classical education paths were not impressive or satisfying to him caused Descartes to cast himself out to learn from the "book of the world", with the vow to eventually "study within [himself] too".