Descartes- Things that Think
Rene' Descartes was a modern European thinker. Throughout his meditations he constantly implies that we are "things that think". Our bodies, these things, are just a jumbled mess of flesh, blood and bone. It is thinking that creates the person. Thinking is what separates humans from the rest of the animal kingdom. Skepticism is described as doubting everything and is a frequently used method by Descartes. He doubts the fact that he is really living; maybe what he is doing at this moment is dreaming. "As if I did not remember other occasions when I have been tricked exactly similar thoughts while asleep! As I think about this more carefully, I see plainly that there are never any sure signs by means of which being awake can be distinguished from being asleep" (178). This quote is found in Descartes first meditation where he doubts many physical things. He is not saying that nothing exists. He is simply saying that there is no way to know; no proof they do exist. I agree very much with this declaration that Descartes made. He knows that there is no proof that the world doesn't exist and he states that. I cer
Humans rely on their senses to gather information. However, the power of reasoning through the mind has far more authority than the power of the body's senses. Descartes gives the example of wax fresh from the honeycomb. It is hard, cold, smell like the flower it came from and tastes like honey. Yet, when the wax is melted, it loses its original shape, taste, smell and color; but it is still wax, even though our senses tell us that the two objects are completely different things. Descartes uses the wax example to describe how our senses can deceive us, but we know by reason that wax is wax whether you melt it or not. However, I believe that Descartes had another meaning behind this example. If our bodies, like the wax, changed in every aspect, then our mind and reasoning would stay the same. Just as the wax was still wax, Descartes is saying that the mind and thinking will stay the same if the body or ethnicity is magically changed. Of all the philosophers and great thinkers I have studied, I would have to say that Descartes is my favorite. He has a great imagination about the mind and the body without being to
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Approximate Word count = 760
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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