Descartes First Meditation Summary

Aptly subtitled “Of the Nature of the Human Mind, and That It Is More Easily Known Than the Body”, Descartes tasked himself with using philosophical reasoning in determining truths of the universe and of his own being. Motivated to justify that which he has held to be true, and to use those truths to find answers for questions that he poses both of the truths themselves and of his own existence, Descartes became suspicious of even the most basic elements of himself. Therefore, he needed to explore one innate form that he could be absolutely sure of: his own mind. Descartes closes the First Meditation with a limited starting point, as he has just proven to himself that he must doubt everything that he has and holds to be true, including his
own mental faculties. His ending conclusion, “all the things that I see are false: I persuade myself that nothing has ever existed of all that my fallacious memory represents to me”, provides him with no backing from which to continue his philosophical journey unless there is something that he has overlooked (205). As such, Descartes finds it vital to provide himself with a premise from which to place all subsequent arguments on, One element that he builds into his premise is that of a deceptive force that would seek to undermine his efforts. This evil being, he reasons, must be affecting him, thereby there is reason to believe that he exists in order to be deceived. He then proposes that he must exist, although he does not at first realize in which form he exists. He further reasons that if there is a plot against him to make him suppose that he does not exist, it can be thwarted as long as he continues to believe in his own existence. At this point, he provides his key to his argument involving truths, as he states “I am, I exist, [and that] is necessarily true each time that I pronounce it, or that I mentally conceive it” (205). This, however, he deems as only half of the equation, as he still does not know exactly what form he exists in or if he even has corporeal form. Using his existence as a stepping stone, Descartes is then left to determine what the essence of his ability to think has housed itself in; whether it is in his mind alone or if it extends into a physical body.
He revisits the individual characteristics of his own body, noting the limbs, unique qualities, and structure as separate from that which allows him to think. He instead argues that the form he inhabits “can be defined by a certain figure… perceived either by touch, or by sight, or by hearing, or by taste, or by smell: which can be moved in many ways not, in truth, by itself, but something which is foreign to it… for to have the power of self-movement… feeling or of thinking” which exists outside of that which allows him to reason and suppose of his own existence (206). This brings him to an understanding that instead of defining himself by his physical form, he can understand himself as “a thing which thinks… doubts, understands, [conceives], affirms, denies, wills, refuses, which also imagines and feels” (207). However, although he has determined that his own thinking is undoubtable, he has yet to prove to himself that he can believe in his own body, let alone other objects that could affect the
body. Having given himself one innate quality, that he is existing so far as he is thinking, Descartes seeks to see if any of the ideas that he held to be true previously remain true, or if his doubt has proven correct.
His body is considered, as he wishes to determine if he exists within his own mind as a thinking being or if he has been extended into a physical form. He then deems wax as an appropriate form to apply his premise to; as if he can think through the example of wax in relation to his own body, he can prove to himself that he does indeed have a body. As Descartes follows through using the wax as an example, he is able to identify that which tells him that it is wax. Noting that “all the things which are requisite to cause us distinctly to recognize a body, are met with in it”, Descartes parses through the physical characteristics of a hard piece of wax (208). He then observes that same piece of wax after it has been exposed to flame, and realizes that the physical characteristics have changed forms in accordance with melting. This observation leads him to wonder exactly what is contained within the wax or the idea of wax itself that makes it such. By stating that the “conception which [he has] of the wax is not brought about by the faculty of imagination”, Descartes posits that there must be something about the wax that allows for him to perceive of it through its changing forms (208). As such, he comes to realize that his own mind is supplying him with the knowledge
that wax is was, regardless of its physical form. Descartes believes in “an intuition of the mind, which may be imperfect and confused as it was formerly, or clear and distinct as it is at present”, which allows the mental leap from the idea of wax into its liquid and solid states (208). This perception, he thus reasons, takes place as an act of intuition, not sensory means, which proves to him that his previous doubt has held sound. After indicating that he exists as a thinking being, he extends that thought to include intuition in developing ideas about and identifying characteristics of all things, including his own body. Descartes began by doubting all facts of his existence, and through arguing with his own consciousness comes to the conclusion that he exists despite his previous doubt. He then further posits that he exists as a thinking thing, answering his own question of what exactly he is if he does exist. In proving and applying these premises, he uses the example of candle wax. By observing the changing of wax from liquid to solid and studying its characteristics, Descartes reasons that it is through his intuition alone that he comes to understand that the wax remains wax despite its physical transformation. He then is able to determine one solid backing that he exists, that he can think, and that it is that thinking which lends him a corporeal body; leading him to extend his reasoning beyond his own form.