What is the descartes maeditations 1+ 2 about. what is the piece of wax argument? please in detail!! THX!!!?

Answer 1

Lets do the piece of wax, that i rememebr from my Philosophy A-Level.

Descarte said to look at a piece of wax. We can see it is solid, we can touch it, feel it, tatse it etc. All our senses tell us that it is, indeed, a solid.

Now, throw that wax into a fire. We can watch it, with our own eys, melt. The solid ball becomes liquid, it seeps through our fingers, it holds no form.

Now, leave it to cool. It again becomes solid, but a new shape. Its back to being hard, solid, touchable etc.


Now, dont hold me to this, but if i remember right, Descartes argued that everything has a form. Now, our senses can tell us that somethign IS, perhaps, a solid. However, our senses deceive us. That 'solid' can, in one way, become a liquid. Our senses have been fooled, our empirical sense have been once again deceived.


Did you get that?

Answer 2

When we look at the wax, we think we know what the wax is, but if it were a different colour it would still be wax, but if we put it near a flame, its attributes alter, but it is still a piece of wax. This means that we cannot rely upon our senses, they can deceive us, at best only give partial information.
He says:
We understand things not with the senses but with the mind.

I think, though he doesn't mention it, he is describing a kind of experiment. By experiment and the information that came from it, he increased his understanding of what wax is.

Meditation 1 clears his mind of falsehood. He recognises the falsity of the senses, the examples he uses in particular are optical illusion, and the experience of dreams, when you believe you see things that do not exist. He recognises the possibility that sensory perception could be sent deliberately to deceive.
He adopts an attitude of scepticism.

Meditation 2 develops his belief in the power of the mind.
We only can be certain of what is in our mind. What is in our mind may or may not represent outside reality. The dichotomy between internal mind and external reality is taken as proof that the mind exists, and that therefore the "I" exists.
He then defines the "I" to be a thinking being.
He then considers the wax, as above, and comes to the conclusion, that it is in similar fashion that man can know himself.

Answer 3

actually the wax does not melt, it turn into eather