Descartes’ theory of knowledge is based on the existence of innate ideas, to counter the wave of skepticism in his time. However, these ideas have certain ambiguities regarding their existential quantity and quality as well as the criteria for their identification
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Descartes’ theory of knowledge is based on the existence of innate ideas, to counter the wave of skepticism in his time. However, these ideas have certain ambiguities regarding their existential quantity and quality as well as the criteria for their identification, therefore the theory is considered by some to lack integrity. Knowledge by Presence is an innovation of Muslim Philosophers. It has attracted much attention from them since the time of Al-Farabi until the present and its characteristics and examples have been examined in numerous works. A contemporary thinker has gone so far as to name it the foundation of all human knowledge. Since Knowledge by Presence has not been heeded by Western philosophers, there is no mention of it in any of their works, including Descartes. This paper seeks to prove that first, Knowledge by Presence has played a significant part in the formation of Descartes’ Epistemology although he may not have been aware of it; second, his innate ideas can be considered equivalents to the examples of Knowledge by Presence and third, the ambiguities of Descartes’ theory can be resolved by applying his innate ideas to the examples of Knowledge by Presence.
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