Descartes Wax Passage Analysis

Descartes' "Wax Passage" Later in his second meditation, as Descartes begins to doubt his own conclusion that he exists as a thinking thing, he goes into an elaborate analogy known as his "wax passage". Comparing the wax to his knowledge of himself, he begins by discussing the physical characteristics which can be known by means of the senses. However, the importance lies in the fact that by heating, the wax can be altered and the sensible properties are no longer the same. He then goes on to explain that even though this occurs, he is still able to mentally grasp the existence of the wax even with new properties. In realizing this, Descartes struggles with how it is he can grasp the wax without relying its sensible characteristics. He decides then that he is actually experiencing a manifestation of an idea that only his mind can perceive, instead of what he senses. He realizes the importance of the fact that something can be perceived
by the mind even if sensible properties change. In applying that to the analysis of how he exists, he could deduce that regardless of him sensing himself, he can exist as an inspection of the mind. Since Descartes learns that the wax is not just comprised of its sensible properties, he must decide what the nature of the wax is.
He points out that he could not correctly judge what the wax is if he did not understand that it can take on dimensions beyond what he could first grasp by the imagination. The perception of the wax has nothing to do with the senses since we learn that those properties are not constant. Rather, the essence of the wax lies in the importance of our perception and its existence in the mind. By accepting that the wax is not what our senses tell us, and that it is capable of various changes in property, one can then grasp the true nature of the wax as a function of our minds. It is also important to note that the wax we perceive in our minds is still the same wax we see and touch and feel in its various states. Since the mind is still capable of confusion, it is just as important to pay attention to what the wax is made up of. Through our mind's ability to judge we can grasp the true nature of the
wax. Descartes continues and explains that without the human mind, one could not separate the external aspects of wax from its true nature. He says that if he can judge that the wax exists besides it's sensible properties, he can also judge that he exists without being able to sense it. It is entirely possible to misjudge what you sense, and to lack one or more senses themselves, but you can't deny existence if you perceive it with your mind. His knowledge of the wax came to him in many forms, and made his perception of it more specific. For those same reasons, he accepts that he can more specifically know himself. What he means to say is the nature of the mind's grasp involves perception alone, and the reaffirmation of that perception through many detailed accounts of the senses and human reasoning. Descartes thoroughly examines the existence of the wax, and does so in order to confirm the idea that he can better know something in his mind that he can't imagine, than something he can (referring to knowledge of his existence). He has inferred that the wax, and any other body is merely perceived by intellect and not by sense or imagination. The wax serves as an appropriate analogy for the existence of himself because just as the wax remains regardless of change in its sensed properties, he can also exist even though outside influences might tell him otherwise. The human mind is the only entity capable of clearly perceiving the existence of something. To truly know, he must look beyond sensing and beyond imagining that he exists, and look within his mind for the understanding that he exists.