Descartes
In this essay I will refer to the "wax argument" presented by Rene Descartes and explain that it is a valid argument, but not so sound. In Descartes argument, he observes a piece of wax, from a hive, and using his judgment and senses, analyzes the structure and properties of the wax. By doing this he gives the insight that the wax cannot be interpreted by sight, touch, or smell, but by an act of the mind that ensures that the object is real and is seen as a physical object. In this argument he attempts to illustrate the differences between judgment and perception. While showing the differences between the two, he unlocks the concept of rationalism, which is by definition the theory that there are innate ideas and that certain general propositions can be known to be true in advance of or in the absence of empirical verification. Empiricists have the idea that perception and the senses are false and misleading, which is to be expanded on throughout the paper. In Descartes argument, he begins by removing a piece of beeswax from a hive. Perceiving the piece of wax comes from a human's senses, touch, smell, taste, hearing, and taste. By using these senses, we are able to justify that the piece of w
ax is actually a piece of wax. Our senses verify "the sweetness of the honey," the smell of "flowers" and that it is "hard, cold" and "easily handled." With all of our senses working as a team to determine what objects really are, we are able to achieve a compelling foundation to unlocking the material being of any object. With all of these senses determining that this object is a piece of wax, Descartes attempts to make a mockery of the senses when he adds fire to the wax and ultimately changes all of its physical properties. When this takes place, Descartes argues that our perception of the wax is changes. Is it still wax? Why? When the wax melts, it changes forms and all of its properties that we perceived from our senses have changed. It no longer smells the same, tastes the same, looks the same, or makes the same noise if someone was to touch it's heated self. After the transformation has taken place, the question arises: Is it still the same piece of wax, even though all of our senses to not interpret it the same as before? The answer to this question is yes; the wax still remains. Although we don't perceive it the same way with our senses, it is still the same piece of wax even though every physical property of the object has been
Some common words found in the essay are:
Rene Descartes, piece wax, Wax Argument, wax argument, wax wax, wax senses, piece wax senses, touch smell, argument sound, descartes argument, determine object, descartes argues, senses verify,
Approximate Word count = 848
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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