Only the Mind Perceives

663 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Meditation on the First Philosophy

Only the Mind Perceives

Descartes' overall objective in Meditations on First Philosophy is to question knowledge. To explore such issues as the existence of God and the separation of mind and body, it was important for him to distinguish what we can know as truth. He believed that reason as opposed to experience was the source for discovering what is of absolute certainty. In Meditation Two, Descartes embarks on his journey of truth. I find, in Meditation Two that Descartes has accomplished part of his journey, in that only the intellect perceives the material world.

Attempting to affirm the idea that God exists, Descartes comes upon the notion that he exists. He discovers that if he can both persuade himself of something, and likewise, be deceived of something, then surely he must exist (17 -- 18). This self-validating statement is known as the "Cogito Argument." Simply, it implies that whatever thinks, exists.

Having established his existence, Descartes now begins to explore his inner consciousness to find the essence of his being. Eventually, he focuses on the act of thinking and from this, he poses the question: "But what am I? [I am] a thing that thinks. A thing that doubts, understands, affirms, denies, wills, refuses, and that also imagines, and senses" (20). To prove that perception, on the part of the mind, is more real than that of the senses, Descartes asks us to consider a piece of wax fresh from the comb (21). The qualities we attribute to the wax are those derived from the senses. When melted, the qualities that we attribute to the wax are altered and can only be known to the intellect. It is the intellect that determines that although the appearance of the wax has changed, it remains the s...

... middle of paper ...

...in my mind" (22).

Descartes finds that his essence is in his mind. He places a major importance on the intellect. I also believe it is the mind, through understanding, that leads us to our various conclusions. The point that Descartes makes here is that only through the mind can we understand the essential qualities of the wax or anything else for that matter. The melted piece of wax exhibits qualities of something that is extended, flexible, and mutable (21). These are qualities that are only clear to the intellect. I think that Descartes' main point is that if he is able to understand the wax better with his mind, then he should know himself better through the same faculty. I now find myself looking at things a bit closer and not always believing what my senses first show me.

Bibliography:

Descartes, Rene. Meditations on First Philosophy.

Show More
Related

  • What Does Descartes Mean By Thinking Essay

    1081 Words  | 3 Pages

    2- Just before concluding that he himself exists, Descartes says this: "I have convinced myself that there

    Read More

  • The Cartesian Circle is Wrong

    1602 Words  | 4 Pages

    Rene Descartes meditations on the existence of God are very profound, thought-provoking, and engaging. From the meditations focused specifically on the existence of God, Descartes uses the argument that based on his clear and distinct perception that cannot be treated with doubt, God does exist. In the beginning of the third meditation, Descartes proclaims that he is certain he is a thinking thing based on his clear and distinct perception, and he couldn’t be certain unless all clear and distinct perceptions are true. Before diving into the existence of God, Descartes introduces smaller arguments to prove the existence of God. For example, Descartes introduces in his argument that there are ideas in which he possess that exists outside of him. Utilizing the objective versus formal reality, Descartes states “If the objective reality of any of my ideas turns out to be so great that I am sure the same reality does not reside in me, either formally or eminently, and hence that I myself cannot be its cause, it will necessarily follow that I am not alone in the world, but that some other thing which is the cause of this idea exists” (29). In other words, the ideas of objective reality that resides in Descartes can potentially only come from a supreme being, which is God; God possess more objective reality than he does formal reality. We as humans, as Descartes states, are finite substance, and God is the only infinite substance. The only way for us as a finite substance to think of an infinite substance is possible if, and only if, there is an infinite substance that grants us the idea of substance in first place. After these smaller arguments, Descartes states that while we can doubt the existence of many things, due to the fact that ...

    Read More

  • Descartes Meditation 1 Analysis

    958 Words  | 2 Pages

    He argues that if he does not solve God’s existence, he will not be certain about anything else. Thus, Descartes says that he has an idea of God and, therefore, God exists. However, in order to be certain of His existence, Descartes provides proofs that will illustrate his reasoning. The four proofs include formal reality vs. objective reality, something can’t arise from nothing, Descartes cannot be the cause of himself, and therefore, the bigger cause is God. Now that Descartes knows God is real, he must solve another aspect, which is if God can be a deceiver.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Descartes's View Of Thinking

    1254 Words  | 3 Pages

    Claiming that the different senses have perceived in him the way once was before it came in contact with the heat, but still remains the same, although being perceived in a different way, but with the same senses as before except for it being liquid after the heat but remains with the same other traits he mentioned. Therefore, this is how he establishes his claim of the Aristotelian intellect and Cogito inference by rejecting everything and doubting its existence and separating the nature of the body and mind as the body being a non-extended thinking thing such as the senses, and the mind being a thinking thing that can extend. Descartes states that he perceives the wax through the mind alone and says that perception is not an imagination, touching or seeing but it is an inspection of the mind

    Read More

  • Serious Errors within Rene Descartes’ Meditations on First Philosophy

    1094 Words  | 3 Pages

    One of Rene Descartes’ major culminations in Meditations on First Philosophy is “I must finally conclude that this proposition, I am, I exist, is necessarily true whenever it is put forward by me or conceived in my mind” (Descartes:17). This statement can be explicated by examining Descartes’ Cartesian method of doubt and his subsequent discovery of basic truths. Even though I do believe that Descartes concludes with a statement that is accurate: cogito ergo sum, there are areas of his proof that are susceptible to defamation. These objections discover serious error with Descartes’ method used in determining the aforementioned conclusion.

    Read More

  • Descartes Proof Of God

    1660 Words  | 4 Pages

    Next, in the fourth meditation, which leads into Descartes’ thoughts on himself in God’s view. It is important to compare the third meditation. A second point of view of not just an idea, but now Descartes himself. He asks why a perfect being such as God does not make a perfect being like Descartes himself. He questions why he is not perfect in that sense.

    Read More

  • Descartes Sixth Meditation

    1138 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...rity and distinction, but we can conclude what Descartes means. He is saying that we can be sure that these primary qualities exist in bodies in the same way that they do in our ideas of bodies. This cannot be claimed for qualities such as heat, color, taste and smell, of which our ideas are so confused and vague that we must always reserve judgment. This can be seen in the wax example.

    Read More

  • Descartes' Wax Passage

    1085 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Meditations on First Philosophy, it is the self-imposed task of Descartes to cast doubt upon all which he knows in order to build a solid foundation of knowledge out of irrefutable truths. Borrowing an idea from Archimedes, that with one firm and immovable point the earth could be moved, Descartes sought one immovable truth. Descartes' immovable truth, a truth on which he would lay down his foundation of knowledge and define all that which he knows, was the simple line "Cogito ergo sum": I think, therefore I am. This allowed for his existence.

    Read More

  • An Analysis Of George Berkeley And Descartes

    850 Words  | 2 Pages

    According to Descartes, “because our senses sometimes deceive us, I wanted to suppose that nothing was exactly as they led us to imagine (Descartes 18).” In order to extinguish his uncertainty and find incontrovertible truth, he chooses to “raze everything to the ground and begin again from the original foundations (Descartes 59).” This foundation, which Descartes is certain to be the absolute truth, is “I think, therefore I am (Descartes 18).” Descartes argues that truth and proof of reality lies in the human mind, rather than the senses. In other words, he claims that the existence of material objects are not based on the senses because of human imperfection. In fact, he argues that humans, similarly to Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, are incapable of sensing the true essence or existence of material objects. However, what makes an object real is human thought and the idea of that object, thus paving the way for Descartes’ proof of God’s existence. Because the senses are easily deceived and because Descartes understands that the senses can be deceived, Descartes is aware of his own imperfection. He

    Read More

  • Descartes' First Meditation

    1330 Words  | 3 Pages

    Rene Descartes decision to shatter the molds of traditional thinking is still talked about today. He is regarded as an influential abstract thinker; and some of his main ideas are still talked about by philosophers all over the world. While he wrote the "Meditations", he secluded himself from the outside world for a length of time, basically tore up his conventional thinking; and tried to come to some conclusion as to what was actually true and existing. In order to show that the sciences rest on firm foundations and that these foundations lay in the mind and not the senses, Descartes must begin by bringing into doubt all the beliefs that come to him by the senses. This is done in the first of six different steps that he named "Meditations" because of the state of mind he was in while he was contemplating all these different ideas. His six meditations are "One:Concerning those things that can be called into doubt", "Two:Concerning the Nature of the Human mind: that it is better known than the Body", "Three: Concerning God, that he exists", "Four: Concerning the True and the False", "Five: Concerning the Essence of Material things, and again concerning God, that he exists" and finally "Six: Concerning the Existence of Material things, and the real distinction between Mind and Body". Although all of these meditations are relevant and necessary to understand the complete work as a whole, the focus of this paper will be the first meditation.

    Read More

  • Descartes' Wax Argument

    1444 Words  | 3 Pages

    I find the particular structure of the argument rather problematic because Descartes built this knowledge of the human mind with an apparent belief that the body of wax already exists. Since he has not established the existence of matter, there would not be any wax for the discussion. He has no right to determine the precise identity of the mind, provided that any concept defined in relation to the matter should be considered uncertain at this time. Descartes also indicates that the nature of the wax can be understood only by our imagination. When the wax is melted, evaporated or boiled, there are many more changes in...

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Descartes Meditations 1 And Blackburn's Think

    1333 Words  | 3 Pages

    Philosophical context: I shall use Descartes’ Meditations 1 and Blackburn 's “Think” to discuss the question and my initial answer. In Meditations 1, Descartes sets out to destroy all preconceived notions from his childhood and establish a new foundation for the sciences -- a lasting foundation and explores methods of doubt to his own senses and how to deal with them properly.

    Read More

  • Rene Descartes: Cartesian Dualism

    1632 Words  | 4 Pages

    Descartian dualism is one of the most long lasting legacies of Rene Descartes’ philosophy. He argues that the mind and body operate as separate entities able to exist without one another. That is, the mind is a thinking, non-extended entity and the body is non-thinking and extended. His belief elicited a debate over the nature of the mind and body that has spanned centuries, a debate that is still vociferously argued today. In this essay, I will try and tackle Descartes claim and come to some conclusion as to whether Descartes is correct to say that the mind and body are distinct.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Descartes And Hume

    1247 Words  | 3 Pages

    But his habitual ideas and opinions are still present no matter how hard he tries not to present them, to solve this problem he decides that all of his opinions are false. Descartes finds himself certain about one thing that nothing is certain. Resorting back to the idea that his senses are the only way he is able to obtain the truth in life, he believes that his senses are apart of his mind and body. He uses a honeycomb to examine this topic that the body and mind are one. The wax changes shape therefore he uses imagination to understand it

    Read More

  • Rene Descartes and the Source of Knowledge

    2129 Words  | 5 Pages

    Rene Descartes, a 17th century French philosopher believed that the origin of knowledge comes from within the mind, a single indisputable fact to build on that can be gained through individual reflection. His Discourse on Method (1637) and Meditations (1641) contain his important philosophical theories. Intending to extend mathematical method to all areas of human knowledge, Descartes discarded the authoritarian systems of the scholastic philosophers and began with universal doubt. Only one thing cannot be doubted: doubt itself. Therefore, the doubter must exist. This is the kernel of his famous assertion Cogito, ergo sum (I am thinking, therefore I am existing). From this certainty Descartes expanded knowledge, step by step, to admit the existence of God (as the first cause) and the reality of the physical world, which he held to be mechanistic and entirely divorced from the mind; the only connection between the two is the intervention of God.

    Read More

More about Only the Mind Perceives

Open Document