Leonard Peikoff once wrote that "To reclaim the self-confidence of man’s mind, the first modern to refute is Immanuel Kant … ; the second is Descartes." In this course, Dr. Mayhew will conduct a close, critical analysis of Descartes’s most important work: Meditations on First Philosophy (1641). Not only will this acquaint the student with a major, influential work from early modern philosophy, it will also provide him with an excellent opportunity to practice philosophical detection. Topics (i.e., errors) to be covered include: skepticism about the senses and reason; the cogito; the primacy of consciousness; Cartesian dualism; the ontological argument for the existence of God.