Indecisiveness
Descartes, action, philosophy
The problem Descartes struggles with is the problem of indecisiveness in action. This informs his theoretical philosophy in its deepest layers.
We act on what we know. And if we don't know anything, we won't act. Or perhaps even worse, we'll let others act for us. Pretending that we don’t know anything, we are dragged along by the beliefs of others.
Descartes senses this general atmosphere of 'paralysis by analysis'. These philosophers, they say they want to gain knowledge so they can act better in the world. And so, they think, they question.
But thinking and questioning so much, they question every certainty into oblivion, and eventually remain with no knowledge at all. They are left incapable of action.
Pursuing their supposed goal —acting in accordance with truth— they are actually dragged further away from it.
“They know so much, yet they don't even know for sure that they exist!”, Descartes complains.
“What is the self? What is nature? What even is truth? What is a woman?”
Hence, Descartes' passion for a philosophy of simple and self-evident truths. 'I think, I am.'
Simple axioms, clear and evident in and by themselves, so that we can “proceed with confidence in this life.” (Descartes, Discourse on the Method, I)
In order to act, one has to know. But most if not all knowledge is fallible. “Perhaps what I take for gold and diamonds is nothing but a bit of copper and glass.” (Descartes, Discourse on the Method, I)
And thus, most if not all of our actions can end up being mistakes. But the greatest mistake consists in not acting at all. Afraid of making mistakes, we commit the greatest mistake of all. A noble end, perverted once again in its very pursuit.
The philosopher, searching most intensely for freedom from opinion, arrives at an endless sea of unknowing, and ends up being the easiest victim to opinion. But this time, the opinion enslaving him is not even his own.
Philosophy is always about really simple things, everyday concerns, like the fact that we fail to make decisions because we are afraid of being wrong. Perhaps at its peak, philosophy can be entirely autonomous, uninfluenced by the perils of everyday. But more often, it is influenced by the fears of men and women.
They are afraid of being wrong, and thus they lay claim to philosophy. For sometimes, it is easier to ask a new question, than to make an attempt at an answer.
We are all connected in our ignorance, but are separated by our claims to truth.
The antidote to the paralysis offered by the fear of being wrong, is the willingness to make mistakes. It is the willingness to face the fear, to think, and to adjust one’s actions when one ends up being wrong. But never losing confidence, knowing one did the best one could with what one knew.
Descartes’ philosophy is entirely about this problem of confidence. And most of all, it is about the resolution to stay confident at all times, not because one knows everything, but because one knows that one is acting honourably on what one knows to be right.
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