Rene Descartes Meditations On First Philosophy

One of the most heavily studied topics of research of philosopher Rene Descartes is the nature of the mind, its relationship with our physical bodies, and how they interact in allowing us to know the nature of things and perceive reality. From Descartes’ writings, it is evident that our ability to perceive the world around us is due more to our intellect than our sensory abilities. Having read and analyzed Descartes Meditations on First Philosophy, I intend on proving how the mind is more important than our bodies, especially our senses, in allowing us to perceive reality. Descartes is a firm believer of the notion that our intellects work in helping us perceive reality by allowing us to know the nature of things. On the other hand, he
He explains his opinions on this matter in his second meditation, in which he attempts to clarify what “I” is, this “thing that thinks.” Descartes asserts that he is not only a thinking thing, but he is also capable of imagining and sensing. Descartes continues by questioning how he came to know this “I.” He explains how it cannot be due to our senses through his wax argument, and that it is not due to our imagination either because of the possibility of deception. This knowledge of “I” does not depend on any of the things he stimulates in his imagination because it cannot depend on anything that he doesn’t yet know. He explains that everything belonging to the nature of the body could be nothing more than dreams, so he realizes that nothing he can know by means of imagination involves the knowledge that he has of
Although there are many objections to Descartes claims and arguments, it is my true belief that his responses to these objections re-certify the accuracy and reliability of his claims, and it is for these reasons that I support his wax argument. I agree that any objections to the intellect being the main source of our ability to perceive reality are simply due to an incomplete understanding of what Descartes argues. Descartes concludes his second meditation by saying that there is nothing else that can aid his perception of the wax or any other body for that matter that doesn’t manifest the nature of his mind. Additionally, nothing can be perceived more evidently than our own minds, because “bodies are not perceived by the senses or by the faculty of imagination, but by the intellect alone, and are not perceived by being touched or seen, but only through their being understood.” Ultimately, our ability to perceive the world around us is due more to our intellect than our sensory abilities, or any other aspect of our beings for that matter, so the intellect is therefore what tells us about the nature of