Al-and Ghazali's Descartes' skepticism

Following the historical insights of their cultures, there are many concepts to explore in Rene Descartes' and Al-philosophical Ghazali's positions. Descartes is regarded as the most prominent person who implemented the modern system of western philosophy in western countries (Descartes 2). On the other hand, some Muslim scholars and Western thinkers regard Al-Ghazali as a person who aided in the eradication of philosophical works in Muslim countries; as a result, some people regard him as a person who put a lot of positive meaning into various philosophical concepts. According to some accounts, Al-Ghazali did not end the study of philosophy in the Muslim world; however, his discriminatory rejection of peripatetic philosophers exposed people from the Aristotelian ideological principles. Descartes rejected much of the Aristotelian ideas in the works of his educational predecessors who, in most of their works, majored on the religious orthodoxy of his expressions. The comparison of the works of the above philosophers is a complex process that requires a substantive analysis of ideological contributions and the criticism surrounding the scholastic works. In the work of Al-Ghazali, there is an expression, “peripatetic philosophers” which refers to the ancient philosophers who studied the philosophical principles in the peripatetic schools. The Al-Ghazali also indicates comprehensive representations of his mature thought in different philosophical works i.e. the part of expressions that was fit to be disclosed. The above expressions are found in most of the writings involving the religious sciences. Some of the topics covered in his works include; The Knowledge of God, The Knowledge of Self, The knowledge of the World that explains how things are according to the universal perception of existence and lastly, The Knowledge of the Anticipated world that tries to explain the course of directions in life and the progressiveness in human thoughts. The above topics closely related to some of the topics regarded by Descartes in his preliminary philosophies with the exception of the existence of the Knowledge of the next worlds (Descartes 3). Descartes perceive the next world as the development of thoughts and ideological progressiveness in ideas. The adoption of the Al-Ghazali thoughts improves the understanding of the world; it deliberates the philosophers from the peripatetic understanding of the world. In most cases, it introduces modern ways of appreciating nature and beliefs of different individuals. By influencing the minds and perception of the people, Al-Ghazali freed the modern philosophers from the Aristotelian thoughts. The Al-Ghazali principles enabled the understanding of the modernity as well as the change in the religious and scientific thoughts, a scenario that improved the perception of the modern world and the philosophy of the current world.
Descartes, in his skeptical doubt, questioned the existence of the world. Through the expression “I think therefore I exist,” he managed to influence the development of the modern philosophy. The analysis of the essence of knowledge has enabled May people to develop the skeptical understanding of the modern world. The Descartes skepticism are marred with radical attempts to question the world, a scenario that differentiates them from the traditional philosophical approaches; this, therefore, forms the basis for the understanding of the present world with a view of establishing the truth about the existence of the world. The adoption of the philosophical position by Descartes presents the close imperative examination of the modern perception of life as well as a partial understanding of the traditional philosophical topics. Although both the Descartes and the Al-Ghazali approaches are sometimes criticized, they attempted to free people from the traditional understanding of the world. The development of new philosophical ideas has improved the critical thinking in the field of religion and science, unlike the traditional thoughts that only concentrated on thoughts.Support for the Philosophical Position
The philosophical position of the Rene Descartes was the introduction of the modern philosophy; it is a better approach that touches on the fundamental modernity of life, it treats the people based on the certain situations He managed to influence the western philosophical approaches through the revolutionary and radical advancement. Descartes introduced several meditations to support his position of thought. Through his first work entitled; “What can be called into doubt,” the idea of skepticism is given much attention, according to him, the traditional philosophical works were formulated from the falsehoods that many people have believed in, to be true. Through his approach of hyperbolic doubt, he managed to eliminate the traditional perception of doubtfulness. Descartes elaborates that doubt often put on hold the ideas that are not definite. Descartes decided to advance the modern knowledge from certain foundations where people cannot be subjected to the doubtful situations; in other words, he built is thoughts based on the real perception of the world. Consequently, he decided to eradicate the traditional philosophical approaches that were uncertain through skeptical means, his position attempts to indicate that even believes in the evident scenarios can be doubtful.
In the real-life situation, one can be led to adopt the Descartes position since it eliminates the doubtful situations. In this case, it presents people with sure ways of accepting specific aspects of the world. The modern approaches to life require the tangible evidence that can explain specific concepts of life. For instance, the scientific prove requires certain circumstances that mostly eliminates doubts on a given procedural practices. If any aspect of the philosophical approach should be less than certain, then it is able to cast doubt in all other aspects connected to it. The modern world is devoid of fallacies that create uncertain conditions that humanity must follow, Descartes clearly elaborates why the traditional philosophical approaches are irrelevant in the modern system of existence. Even the smallest doubts in the fundamentals would create skepticism and uncertainty in an argument. For instance, the proposition that is probably true is a phony one since there are small uncertainties that exist in it; this is because probabilities do not eliminate falsehood.
The adoption of the Descartes skeptical approach can be facilitated by the practicalities that enhance the existence in the true world. Pragmatism is one aspect of continuation that encourages certainty in different circumstances. In most situations, being convinced that a specific scenario is true does not provide enough platforms to prove that an option in the basic principle is false. The above scenario mainly aimed at finding and rejecting the false ideas in an attempt to create truthful scholastic thoughts free from doubt. The practical approaches involve looking at the world and adopting specific procedures that can facilitate the understanding of certain aspects of humanity and the world as a whole; this, therefore, requires Descartes skeptical approaches. The world is experiencing advancement in knowledge and the understanding of different principles that pertains to certain standards of human existence. To understand the ever-changing world, one would attempt to adopt the Descartes philosophical approach that seems critical in the understanding of the practical nature of life. Descartes attempt to understand the essence and nature human knowledge by applying skepticism; consequently, he reexamines his approaches to beliefs through identifying the ones with doubtful foundations according to his meditations. The main objective of Descartes is to identify peace of mind and the solution to the skeptical questions that are usually raised about the rational context of the world.
Comparison of the Philosophical Positions
Descartes stipulates that the use of sense is the foundation of his knowledge. All the scenarios that people should accept as truth should be obtained from senses. The perception of sense gives us the nature of things that can shape our understanding of different aspects of humanity. Sense is the source of information about the world, which facilitates the adoption of knowledge of several objects around our environment. Additionally, Descartes indicates that sense can mislead people at some points. Similarly, Al Ghazali also supports the idea of sense deception; the judgment as supported by sense can be undermined by reasons (Al-Ghazali 23). Descartes also stipulates that people should not wholly rely on senses for they render us unable to identify the truth, in most cases; appearances are often illusionary and can undermine our judgment from the actual truths. From the two contexts, Descartes seek true knowledge and certainty while Al Ghazali attempts to question his continuation as elaborated by the Descartes in the first meditations. Therefore, both the Descartes and Al Ghazali both link the acquired knowledge to God.
While the Descartes position is to use the skepticism and radical approaches to formulate the modern philosophy, Al Ghazali’s main role was to challenge the ancient philosophies and provide the alternative understanding to different ideas. For instance, the perception of knowledge could be changed by radicalized minds that could deliberate people from the peripatetic philosophical ideologies. Both the Al Ghazali attempted to reach the truth by disapproving skepticism. Additionally, Al Ghazali strived through the crisis of doubts in a bid to establish the true knowledge. He wanted to accomplish certainty by eradicating beliefs and opinions that have long been obtained from the tender age. The knowledge is based on assurance and conviction established by the parents; it is, therefore, necessary to abolish approaches that can enhance thinking and common sense in various approaches. Al Ghazali was, therefore, looking forward to establishing knowledge that could not be overturned by the superstition. Al Ghazali is opposed to radicalism, a scenario that works best for Descartes; in this principle, human mind dynamically adopts to the changes in knowledge without radicalization. Both Descartes and the Al-Ghazali ideas are often criticized, they seek to free people from the traditional understanding of the world. The development of new philosophical ideas has improved the critical thinking in the field of religion and science, unlike the traditional thoughts that only concentrated on thoughts. The implications of both the Descartes and Al Ghazali slightly differ in their approaches. On the other hand, one would prefer Descartes position since it tries to radicalize the doubtfulness of some people; it also attempts to enhance truthfulness in the real world.
Works Cited
Al-Ghazali, Abu Hamid. "Al-Ghazali’s Path to Sufism: His Deliverance from Error [al-Munqidh min al-Dalal] and Five Key Texts." Trans. RJ McCarthy. Louisville KY: Fons Vitae (2000).
Descartes, René. "A Discourse on the Method of correctly conducting one's reason and seeking truth in the sciences." (2006).