14805. RENE DESCARTES’ METHODS OF DOUBT. This paper examines Rene Descartes various methods of doubt showing that the philosopher did not rely on the single reductio ad absurdum in his famous proof of his own existence. Demonstrates that Descartes employed several different approaches to philosophical proofs and that he was not the mechanistic logician that his mathematical background might suggest. Argues that Descartes applied different methods of doubt to different problems, depending upon whether the problem was epistemological, scientific or theological in nature. KEYWORDS: philosophy philosophical proofs Descartes epistemology. 9 pages, 8 footnotes, 3 bibliographic sources.