I recommend, to myself and to others, that once in a lifetime, one should confront a radical doubt. This doubt envelops every aspect of human existence—every piece of knowledge, every belief, every action. Maintaining a coherent worldview becomes nearly impossible without entering this complex, convoluted, and terrifying state. The true result of such doubt might be called “freedom.”
Humans are given beings: they are born without their own consent into a particular society, in a particular place. By their own will, they are not bound to any nation. They carry a name they did not choose, religious beliefs and moral principles they did not invent. Sometimes, they even remain bound to circumstances they themselves have created. Testing the freedom I describe, one cannot fully liberate oneself from this inescapable connection to the given situation.
Do not misunderstand me. The doubt I invite is not the “true doubt” of Ghazali—it is a Cartesian doubt. Ghazali fell into a radical doubt from which he could no longer engage with the world. According to Khwaja Nizam al-Mulk, Ghazali’s uncertainty became so profound that he withdrew from teaching at the Nizamiyya and retreated into seclusion.
Fifteen to twenty years ago, I tested this doubt in a gentler, slightly unique way. The experience was indescribable: it burns like fire, shakes existence like an earthquake, and leaves the self neither present nor absent. Yet the doubt I recommend to others is not of this Ghazali-like intensity. It is not a personal, ontological tremor—it is methodical, Cartesian. In this doubt, mental filters are placed deliberately, in the gaps of understanding.
Descartes passes everything through the sieve of doubt—but the thinking self, the subject, remains untouched. The self becomes a firm, unwavering support, clear and distinct. Anything examined through doubt may contain uncertainty, but the self itself is indubitable. This is the essence of intellectual progress. The doubting self thinks itself as a self. And from this emerges the famous declaration: Cogito, ergo sum—“I think, therefore I am.”
From Descartes, we learn:
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A clear and discerning mind should accept nothing that can be doubted;
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Beliefs must be freed from dependence on limited perspectives;
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Every problem should be broken down into simple components for resolution;
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And every conclusion should be reviewed and evaluated comprehensively.
In Cartesian doubt lies the possibility of moving from nature to culture, from mythos to logos, from sound to language. It opens the door to self-reflection, to distinguishing oneself from the world in order to observe it. As Slavoj Žižek notes, the self is part of the world, yet distinct from it. The self occupies a vantage point from which the world can be seen, forming an individual perspective on reality.
Festive days are a fitting occasion for a Cartesian shake-up, a tremor to revisit ourselves. I too intend to follow my own advice. To succeed on this path, one must approach the limits of the impossible.
Link to the original text in Turkish (Azerbaijan):
https://www.facebook.com/eyvaztaha/posts/pfbid0YUCymmvfCm8Vg1kx7Yead3qeDkJc69XhqevhBku4Q4CXVGpn7ZKqrgkN2MCeNY6El