Rene Descartes had a philosophical treatise published in 1647 called the meditations on the first philosophy (Statile et al. 2010, pp.548). His book has six different meditations that include meditation of the things called doubt, meditation of the nature of the human mind, meditation of the existence of God, meditation that concerns true and false, meditation that concerns the importance of the material things, and the meditation that concerns the differences between mind and body.
First Meditation: Doubtful Things
This mediation called skeptical doubts starts as the mediator makes a reflection on some of the beliefs during his lifetime that now he attest as falsehoods. Descartes can recall numerous occasions that he has fallen to tricks while asleep. The author does not find a reliable way to distinguish the notion of sleeping with that of being awake. In the course of sleeping the author dreams that he has does not possess a body while he sees visions that appear as paintings. It is yet to admit that the vision images that appear as paintings are real instead of imagery (Thomas, 2011, pp.271). When painters want to attempt to depict sirens and satyrs, they use real animal limbs rather than inventing the nature afresh. When the painters succeed in thinking up fictions things, they must apply real colors. The mental image has the capability of producing true and false images. It is reasonable for one to conclude that all the sciences that deal with complex structures such as astronomy, physics, and medicine are doubtful. The simple scientific subjects such as geometry and arithmetic are certain. It is impossible to suspect the obvious truths while awake or asleep that a triangle has three sides. The mediator believes in the existence of an all-powerful God that created him for what he is. The formation of the universe and all that exists in it is the work of the creator. The mediator is capable of believing a form of deception since one can go wrong even after having perfect knowledge. Critics can deny the existence of an all-powerful God and instead believe that theology is fiction. The perspective that there is no God leads one to believe that humans are products of fate that has causes and effects. Since the mediator is imperfect, it is to fall to this deception that God does not exist. In future, if the mediator needs to discover any certainty, he must withhold the assent from the false beliefs. The earlier on beliefs keep returning against the will of the mediator in the attempt of capture his belief. Most of the mediator opinions are very probable but contain a sense of doubt. The mediator has to conqueror this perspective of assenting to the deception by him agreeing that the former opinions are falsehoods. To counter the old opinions, the mediator has to continue with the process of acquiring knowledge. The mediator will think of the universe and all that is in it as mere dreams and that demons trap his judgment. The mediator will remain the persistence in the train of thought to guard against accepting the falsehoods. Descartes saw the meditation as underpinning of the new physics since he suggests that all the knowledge emanate from the senses. The notion that knowledge comes from the senses will motivate all the Aristotelian thinkers that read the Meditations (Thomas, 2011, pp.271). When one reads the dream argument one can assume a universal dream that does not have a waking experience. In the universal dream is a suggestion that the senses are not reliable. The First Meditation presents skepticism as a controversial subject in philosophy that raises numinous questions concerning the universe. The Mediator does not doubt randomly since he is rational in his doubts. The argument in the first philosophy is that if the mediator is dreaming then one cannot rely on with the belief.
Second Meditation: The nature of the human mind
The Mediator makes a decision to continue searching for his identity while he recalls that the First Meditation raises skeptical doubts that one cannot ignore. The Mediator will hold with little attention falsehoods that contain the slightest doubts. The Mediator will continue with his pursuit of identifying certainty as Archimedes asserts that an immovable point could lift the entire universe. The Mediator is hopeful that solid information will enable him to manage great things in life. He supposes that everything he observes is fictions since his memory contains falsehoods. He has hope that God exists and that he will give him good thoughts. As he recalls the First Meditation, he perceives that he has a faulty memory since what he sees is doubtful. He notes that the universe does not exist (Statile et al. 2010, pp.549). The world has an evil demon that deceives him. In the final analysis, he concludes that I am I exist as a conception in his mind.
The Mediator wonders whether he has senses or a body since the world appears as nonexistence. He considers that there is an evil demon that deceives him for him to conclude that I am I exist. He casts doubt on the existence of nourishment, movement, and the sense. He cannot doubt what he is thinking; in essence he is a body that thinks. I think I am argument is a popular philosophical line that initiates modern Western philosophy. He can recall that radical doubts exist in the First Meditation. I think I am, is a presentation of the universe and the knowledge of the mind to know itself better than anything else. Western philosophy establishes the connection of the mind with reality as the mind helps one to establish something locked inside of humans. One should distinguish I think I am in the formulation of the Meditations. Descartes conclusion is that whatever thinks exists and if he thinks, he exists. The statement will act as a reasoned reference to casting doubt from the mediator. If the Mediator doubts everything how will he establish I think, I am? There are different interpretations concerning that statement. One can read as intuition instead of inference. Another reading can interpret I am I exist as per formative utterance where the act of saying will make it true. He will not doubt what he thinks since doubt is a form of thought. Some of the claims concerning him being an object that thinks are either metaphysical or epistemological. As one reads the epistemological statement informs that he knows, he is a thing that thinks. According to his reasoning, he is only a thing that thinks. Descartes reasons that he is a thinking thing and that the body and the mind are two separate entities. It is not possible for the body and mind to be one and the same since they do not recognize each other. Since he knows that he is a thing, and the body and mind are separate entities, he is not a bodily thing. Descartes argues that he is only a thing that thinks to avoid intentional fallacy on the identical things. Thing that thinks is a complex statement used by Cartesian ontology. Sense, thinking, and will are some of the characteristics of the mind that the Mediator casts.
Second Mediation: the wax argument
The Mediator asserts that I am nothing while I think I am something to imply that I am I exist proposition. The word ‘I’ is an obvious and certain term that eliminates questionable arguments. According to the thoughts of the Mediator man, is a rational animal with spontaneous and natural beliefs. The first belief is that man possesses hands, face, arms, and the entire structure of body parts. The other belief is the ability to eat and drink, movement, and engaging in thoughts as well as sense-perception. He understands that a body occupies definite shape and position to perceive five senses. The human body is unique from others since it can initiate movements and has ability to think.
The modern mind separates intellect from the soul attribute that can imagine and will. The Aristotelian school of thought says that a mind and the world have a distinction. The Cartesian ontology says that imaginings and dreams are mental activities that exist only in the mind. It is the work of modern philosophy to establish a connection between things in the world and things in the mind. It is ambiguous to establish a connection between the visual sensations and the objects in the world since the visual sensations are part of the mind and the objects are a part of the world. Other philosophers question Descartes distinction of mind and the world. The Mediator uses the wax argument to illustrate we know things through knowledge instead of the sense and that one can know the mind better than anything else. The argument focuses on a process where solid wax melts to liquid puddle. One can know a solid piece of wax through the senses. Conversely, the senses will inform concerning the melted wax while the sense cannot inform that the melted wax and the solid wax are the same. Intellect has the capability of organizing and making sense of what people perceive. Intellect helps one to understand disconnected information. The argument counters Aristotelian theory of knowledge that a state that knowledge comes from the senses. Descartes asserts that through the senses one learns concerning the world while giving distorted information without the help of intellect. Every perception of the Mediator confirms of the existence of the mind that gives evidence concerning the existence of the world. In conclusion, he observes that the mind knows better than the body. The existence of the mind will establish the existence of the body. According to the I am I exist argument he is a thing that thinks.
References
Statile, G., Koterski, J. W., & J., S. (2010). A Beginner’s Guide to Descartes’ Meditations. International Philosophical Quarterly, 48(4), 548-550.
Thomas, J. (2011). The Scepticism of Descartes’ Meditations. Laval Theologique et Philosophique, 67(2), 271.
