From Intuitive To Clear And Distinct Perceptions

It?s well known that Descartes as the father of modern philosophy re-interpreted “first philosophy” Aristotle put forward and changed it into the theory of knowledge.Descartes thought what philosophy deals with above all is not metaphysical ultimate being or final cause but the basis which can be handled by reason and is absolutely certain.Descartes believe people can built the reliable and stable system of knowledge on the basis.In this article,I will point out Descartes was developing and improving the specific definition of the basis in his philosophical career.In his early thought represented by Rules,Descartes tried to model mathematics as the method of building the entire system of knowledge.He put forward the epistemology which center on intuition and fundamentalism he insisted during his philosophical career.He thought the solid system of knowledge must be based on absolute certainty convinced by intuition.However,Descartes found out the limit of the theory and began to study metaphysics.In his Meditation,he proposed the system will be built after the challenge given by skepticism is overcome and it is overcome only by Cogito.Through the analysis of Cogito,he proposed clear and distinct perception as the truth criterion.I will expound its definition and some relevant topics,such as Cartesian Circle and his God argument.