Meditation 2: Descartes Wax Argument

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Descartes through his meditations comes to believe in the separateness of mind and body (substance dualism). This stems from the wax argument since existing as this pure essence of cogito, is derived from the way the wax exists in essence, which is separate from it’s sensory form. This is enhanced by his ability to imagine that his body does not exist, and his inability to imagine the inexistence of his mind. However, I see clear fault in this through Descartes later argument that considers his relationship to his body as “tightly bound”(Descartes 156) and unlike that of “a sailor present in his ship” (Descartes 156). I find contradiction in this as, how can something so “mixed up” (Descartes 156) together be seen clearly and distinctly as separate? Descartes satisfies this by the notion that the body may feel a sensation, and then this urges the mind to react for the “maintenance of the healthy man” (Descartes 159). This idea in itself objects the argument of substance dualism, as in order for body to influence mind there must be contact between the two, therefore implying the necessity of the mind to have extension. For how can something unextended and thinking communicate with another that is unthinking and extended?

From the above it is undeniable that Descartes may have been able to communicate some logic through the wax analogy. However there are a number of faults or criticisms to his reasoning, particularly within the components of essences and mind and body dualism.

Works Cited

Perry, John, Michael Bratman, and John Martin Fischer. "Meditations on First Philosophy." Introduction to Philosophy: Classical and Contemporary Readings. Sixth Edition ed. New York: Oxford UP, 2007. 136-60. Print.

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