登陆注册
20108000000012

第12章 PART IV(1)

I am in doubt as to the propriety of making my first meditations in the place above mentioned matter of discourse;for these are so metaphysical,and so uncommon,as not,perhaps,to be acceptable to every one.And yet,that it may be determined whether the foundations that I have laid are sufficiently secure,I find myself in a measure constrained to advert to them.I had long before remarked that,in relation to practice,it is sometimes necessary to adopt,as if above doubt,opinions which we discern to be highly uncertain,as has been already said;but as I then desired to give my attention solely to the search after truth,I thought that a procedure exactly the opposite was called for,and that I ought to reject as absolutely false all opinions in regard to which I could suppose the least ground for doubt,in order to ascertain whether after that there remained aught in my belief that was wholly indubitable.Accordingly,seeing that our senses sometimes deceive us,I was willing to suppose that there existed nothing really such as they presented to us;and because some men err in reasoning,and fall into paralogisms,even on the simplest matters of geometry,I,convinced that I was as open to error as any other,rejected as false all the reasonings I had hitherto taken for demonstrations;and finally,when I considered that the very same thoughts (presentations)which we experience when awake may also be experienced when we are asleep,while there is at that time not one of them true,Isupposed that all the objects (presentations)that had ever entered into my mind when awake,had in them no more truth than the illusions of my dreams.But immediately upon this I observed that,whilst I thus wished to think that all was false,it was absolutely necessary that I,who thus thought,should be somewhat;and as I observed that this truth,I think,therefore I am (COGITO ERGO SUM),was so certain and of such evidence that no ground of doubt,however extravagant,could be alleged by the sceptics capable of shaking it,I concluded that I might,without scruple,accept it as the first principle of the philosophy of which I was in search In the next place,I attentively examined what I was and as I observed that I could suppose that I had no body,and that there was no world nor any place in which I might be;but that I could not therefore suppose that I was not;and that,on the contrary,from the very circumstance that Ithought to doubt of the truth of other things,it most clearly and certainly followed that I was;while,on the other hand,if I had only ceased to think,although all the other objects which I had ever imagined had been in reality existent,I would have had no reason to believe that Iexisted;I thence concluded that I was a substance whose whole essence or nature consists only in thinking,and which,that it may exist,has need of no place,nor is dependent on any material thing;so that "I,"that is to say,the mind by which I am what I am,is wholly distinct from the body,and is even more easily known than the latter,and is such,that although the latter were not,it would still continue to be all that it is.

After this I inquired in general into what is essential I to the truth and certainty of a proposition;for since I had discovered one which I knew to be true,I thought that I must likewise be able to discover the ground of this certitude.And as I observed that in the words I think,therefore Iam,there is nothing at all which gives me assurance of their truth beyond this,that I see very clearly that in order to think it is necessary to exist,I concluded that I might take,as a general rule,the principle,that all the things which we very clearly and distinctly conceive are true,only observing,however,that there is some difficulty in rightly determining the objects which we distinctly conceive.

In the next place,from reflecting on the circumstance that I doubted,and that consequently my being was not wholly perfect (for I clearly saw that it was a greater perfection to know than to doubt),I was led to inquire whence I had learned to think of something more perfect than myself;and Iclearly recognized that I must hold this notion from some nature which in reality was more perfect.As for the thoughts of many other objects external to me,as of the sky,the earth,light,heat,and a thousand more,I was less at a loss to know whence these came;for since I remarked in them nothing which seemed to render them superior to myself,I could believe that,if these were true,they were dependencies on my own nature,in so far as it possessed a certain perfection,and,if they were false,that I held them from nothing,that is to say,that they were in me because of a certain imperfection of my nature.But this could not be the case with-the idea of a nature more perfect than myself;for to receive it from nothing was a thing manifestly impossible;and,because it is not less repugnant that the more perfect should be an effect of,and dependence on the less perfect,than that something should proceed from nothing,it was equally impossible that I could hold it from myself:accordingly,it but remained that it had been placed in me by a nature which was in reality more perfect than mine,and which even possessed within itself all the perfections of which I could form any idea;that is to say,in a single word,which was God.

同类推荐
热门推荐
  • 娇龙傲游天下

    娇龙傲游天下

    一次意外,她穿越成了一个粉雕玉砌的娃娃,长大后的她一笑倾城再笑倾国,并身怀绝技。他是一人之下万人之上的西夏太子,遭人暗算后两人相遇在凤凰山下,并擦出爱的火花,她为了他奔走在四国之间,他亦为了她倾尽一生所爱,“爱”就一个字,不需要任何理由!(本文纯属虚构,请勿模仿。)
  • EXO,BTS,南城旧梦

    EXO,BTS,南城旧梦

    陌小沫,悲惨的她有悲惨的人生,爱她护她的人都因她而离去,爱人因保护她而死,护她的人因她的绝决而离去,她,还剩什么......
  • 亲爱的老婆大人

    亲爱的老婆大人

    失忆的秦可兮和陆少辰开展了一段细水长流的婚恋。当陆少承在某个环境下看到她的小娇妻,才发现原来她身上有着许多秘密
  • 十年前的回忆

    十年前的回忆

    一个小女孩她被领养了,她以前有个青梅竹马的男的,他们将来成了夫妻
  • 富贵生活

    富贵生活

    不是想出头,不是爱争斗。只是别无他法,危机临到头上了,是努力接招还是一退再退!为了能继续过平淡的日子,就来好好斗一场吧!平凡的小人物有了目标,也会有着不平凡的闪光点!她在四方势力倾轧下,小心翼翼,装疯卖傻,保全自己!她在富贵之时,早做准备,未雨绸缪!她在遇人危难之时咬牙切齿,想要狠心撒手,却最终倾囊相助,求得心安!在一切平息过后,人面依旧,物是人非!危机过去,却终是生活无着!带上几个拖油瓶,小富平静安宁的生活仍然遥遥无期!咬牙再拼搏,狠心继续奋斗,一切只为:富贵生活!新书《悍妇当家》4月PK,请大家多多支持。再为大家推荐《三夫四侍》、《拈星》
  • 黑暗权杖

    黑暗权杖

    重回十七岁少年时代的端木无尘,就像是做了一个漫长而又真实的梦。这一年倾霞峰上垂垂老矣的冰霜巨龙咽下了最后一口气;这一年无尽森林尊贵无双的精灵公主已经萌生了离家出走的念想;最最重要的是,这一年他将面临残酷的高考!他知道南方深渊部落即将在魔龙的引导下入侵人类,也知道北方兽人部落的暴动将如同荒野里落下的一颗火星,最终烧得烈焰滔天。于乱世之中,道德与律法让人敬畏却又空洞无力,唯有手中的强大力量,才能够守护自己想要守护的东西。一边享受着和平下最后片刻的美好,一边努力的成长,成长成一名执掌黑暗权杖的巨头!书友交流群:489533706
  • 一分钟读懂顾客心理

    一分钟读懂顾客心理

    顾客的心理有多种,其中包括“求实惠”和“求便宜”的心理,对抱有这种心理的顾客,一般可以用价格和产品的质量来说服,重点指出自己产品的“物美价廉”,那么他们就很容易被打动。另外顾客的求“效率”心理,求“舒适”心理,求“安全”心理,求“方便”心理等,在读懂消费者心理的旅途中,本书将为您一一展现!让您在1分钟之内读懂顾客心理,打开顾客的钱袋!
  • 千年情囚之三世殇玉

    千年情囚之三世殇玉

    圣诞节后至1月15日要筹备考试,暂不更新。“我是来自西方的神哦,在西方他们叫我天使。”“几百年来仙界与魔界这不休止的战斗,朕真的倦了……”“你为何放过本座?……是…因为爱吗?天使?……”“千囚笼之凤?你的名字真有意思!~”“不管是什么孤都不会去在乎,只求能死于你之手。”“朕的小童养媳怎么被放养成这个鬼样子?说好的皇后养成计划呢?”“龙叔你既然知道我有多爱你,为什么还不遣散后宫只留我一人!”“玉儿,只有你,才是我想要守护的,即使你是天使,我亦是恶魔……”......
  • 渲罗梦

    渲罗梦

    本愿平静相携游遍天上地下九州山水,却几度生死相隔分分合合。拨开迷雾却发现之前意外都是设定好的局,谋杀、相救、重逢……之后种种,前路只剩一条他们却不得不走。环环相扣的阳谋,必然放下的执念、以命相搏的对决……哪怕被动着经历过,对他们言而也遥远得像旁人讲的故事,都只不过一场注定遗忘的虚梦。
  • 见五秒之后

    见五秒之后

    人有三六九等,世有三教九流。一天总有白天和黑夜。退伍回家后的莫一凡,最大的人生目标就是赶快找个媳妇。让好辛苦一辈子拉扯他长大的父亲,过上子孙满堂的晚年生活。可是,生命起源都是一次偶然,人生又岂能没有伤痛和意外。只是这伤痛来的如此突然,意外又来的如此莫名其妙。张九千,和莫一凡一个火车皮拉去,又一个火车皮拉回来的感情。和莫一凡一样退伍后,进入一家普通的国有企业。不一样的是,一次刻骨铭心的恋爱之后,他成了莫一凡眼中的“妇女之友”。竹六道,莫一凡的同年同班战友。农村出身的他,退伍后,一直在南方打工。李三有,一次不成功的盗窃,让他落到了莫一凡和张九千的手里。从此,人生多了三个异姓的哥哥,却不知是福是祸。