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Descartes, in his First Meditation, provides an argument to call into question evidence we
obtain from our senses. He first claims that the dream world and waking life are completely
similar in their experiences. If dreams and waking life are completely similar in experience, then
there are no tests by which one can distinguish the dream and reality. From this, Descartes states
that one cannot distinguish the dream and waking life. Thus, it is possible that at this moment, he
is dreaming. And if he is dreaming, then it is possible that all his beliefs about the world are
false. So, at any given time, it is possible that all his beliefs about the world are false. Finally, if
it is possible that all his beliefs about the world are false, then it should give reason to doubt all
his beliefs. Thus, Descartes has adequate reason to doubt his entire sensory experiences.
My primary objection is to his premise that there are no tests by which one can
distinguish the dream and reality. The primary difference between dream and reality is the lack
of coherency in the dream. In other words, the natural expectations (like causal laws of nature
and moment-to-moment unity) present in reality are not present in dreams. For example, we can
jump up and start flying (as opposed to being pulled down by gravity). This coherency test
allows us to distinguish dream and reality. With this example, we also question the assumption
that the dream world and waking life are similar in their experiences. That is, there is at least one
scenario in the waking world (e.g., not being able to fly) that is distinct from the dreaming world.
As long as we are not able to fly in the real world (or do any similar thing that breaks causal laws
of nature), then we can safely say that we are in reality.