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Descarte I agree with Descartes when in his "Second Meditation" he concludes that we only exist as thought. We cannot be said without a doubt to exist as bodies,
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Submitted by ajstardust on April 6, 2008
Category: Philosophy
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I agree with Descartes when in his “Second Meditation” he concludes that we only exist as thought. We cannot be said without a doubt to exist as bodies, since bodies may only be discerned through the senses, and the senses can be deceived. Also, we cannot exist as anything else concerned with the body, since to negate the existence of the body is to negate the existence of these things as well. The only way we may understand ourselves is through our minds, through thought.
To begin examining Descartes’ reasons for drawing such conclusions, a few points from the “First Meditation” need to be taken into consideration. For instance, in the “First Meditation,” Descartes contends that sensory perceptions are often misleading, but he also states that the knowledge of which he was once the surest was arrived at through sensory perception. As proof of how our senses can mislead us, the philosopher gives examples of how things we see at a distance may appear smaller than they actually are or a straight stick that has been placed halfway in water will appear bent. Thus, he warns against putting all our trust in our senses while searching for truth, since as he puts it, “it is prudent never to trust completely those who have deceived us even once” (12). In layman’s terms, fool me once shame on you; fool me twice shame on me.
For Descartes, the fact that our senses can be tricked so easily and so are not to be trusted throws everything that he had previously believed to be most certain into doubt, including his own bodily existence. His definition of a body is similar to our present-day definition of matter in general, recognizing a body as distinct from thought and spirit, incapable of independent action (17). But the human body can move of itself and think, so Descartes cannot exist as a body. Furthermore, being unable to prove the existence of a body automatically negates any of those functions or needs that the body...
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