René Descartes is one of the most influential philosophers of modern thought. His book Discourse on Method changed the world in terms of how people thought. While Descartes intentions were admirable, and he himself was not a materialist, the unfortunate side effect of his methodical doubt was that it ended up paving the way for the four great “isms” of modernity: rationalism, materialism, reductionism and scientism. These for schools of thought have greatly contributed to the false dichotomy between science and religion, has allowed the rise of totalitarian forms of government such as Marxism and Fascism and, has led to the degradation of human dignity.
Descartes method stated that if
something can be doubted it must be regarded as untrue unless proven otherwise.
In order for one to prove whether or not something is true Descartes urges
those seeking the truth to find recourse in the physical sciences. While the physical sciences tell us a great
deal about the object with which they study, the scientific method is something
which is very much limited to the quantifiable and measurable. At the turn of
17th Century philosophers and scientist disregard the truths which
were held in religion and instead substituted it for the truth of the beaker
and ruler. The result of this lead to an
intellectual reductionism which reduces all knowledge to that which can be
physically verifiable. If something is
unable to be measured or empirically proven it therefore does not exist and is
of no use. Furthermore, the emphasis put
on the rational faculties of the soul lead to viewing man’s reason as the
highest aspect of humanity rather than a tool which is to be used to seek
happiness. As a result, Reductionism
replaced religion, human reason replaced God, and the material goods of the
world became the object of mans search.
A good example of this today is the rapid rise and demand for new technologies. Almost every year there is a new updated
version of a certain cellphone that is the latest and greatest. While the advancements of technology have
been fantastic and helpful it seems that if we are not careful we will substitute
organic relationship for artificial connection.
Along with the rise of these new philosophies
which focused strictly on the empirically verifiable, the materialistic way of
thinking lead to the rise of some of the most inhumane political ideologies and
militant atheist thinkers that had ever been seen. One such thinker is that of
Ludwig Feuerbach who was an atheist and very anti-Christian. Taken from his
book The Essence of Christianity Feuerbach
writes, “The idea of God is the ignorance which solves all doubt by repressing
it”. Here we can see his recourse to Descartes
idea of methodical doubt. There was another man who held similar sentiments
towards religion. This man was none other than Karl Marx who is accredited to
saying “religion is the opiate of the masses”.
It is interesting how much the philosophy of Feuerbach influenced that
of Marx. Marx saw religion as stifling
intellectual growth and was one of the many facets of oppression used by the bourgeoise. Both Marx and Feuerbach saw
God and religion as the antithesis to human growth and development. However,
what one does not realize is that there is a serious moral problem which cannot
be solved by the atheist. If God does not exist then what is the highest end to
which humanity ought to strive towards? Furthermore, on what foundation can you
claim something to be morally right or wrong since both right and wrong both
point to degrees of perfection? If God does not exist then morality is an
arbitrary construct and the highest end for man to achieve is that which is
imposed on him by whoever has the most power. For the Marxist it is the state
which becomes the new God and the philosopher is exchanged for the
pragmatist.
The final obstacle which is one which we face most prominently in our society is the disregard shown towards the human person. Since the Supreme Courts ruling on the Roe v. Wade case 43 million unborn children have lost their lives peaking at 1.6 million in 1990, and that is just in the United States[i]. What is it that has allowed for such an attack on the human person? The answer comes from the result of the prevailing thoughts of militant atheists who deny any sort of objective morality. Through the writings of men like Marx and Feuerbach and more recently Dawkings and Hichens, freedom comes from denial of God. After all Descartes said if it can be doubted don’t accept it as true until it has been proven as such. And with the rise of Reductionism and Scientism the only thing that constitutes as “proof” is that which can be empirically proven through the sciences. Dignity is not something which is quantifiable and thus the human person is simply a material being which can be used for whatever is needed and then discarded. Humans no longer as seen as persons to be loved but rather objects to be used
It was never Descartes intention to
be the foundation for such strong atheistic tendencies and beliefs. Descartes was a seeker of truth. While his method of doubt is very useful it
must be taken with a caveat which is not all truths can be empirically verified
or measured. It must also be understood that if we are to seek the truth it
must always be done under the assumption that truth is indeed objective. Otherwise, we will find that our house will
not be able to stand upon the shifting sands of Relatvism.
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