Meditations on Wax

In Meditations on Philosophy, Descartes uses an intricate explanation of wax as a means to analyze what he perceives as the three possible methods of understanding an extended thing Ð'- sensing, imagining, and pure reasoning. Descartes begins his analysis by providing an example which appeals to the reader's belief in the validity of his senses and then shows the problem with relying solely on those senses. He follows with an argument which shows how the imagination alone does not possess the ability to allow oneself to truly understand an extended thing. Eliminating both the senses and imagination as possible methods for truly knowing an extended thing, Descartes is left with only pure reason as a method which can lead to a full understanding of an extended thing.

In paragraph 11of Meditation II, Descartes begins by describing many properties which the wax appears to possess. "[I]t is hard, cold, and easy to touch; it makes a sound when rapped". But by showing that these are not always properties of the wax, that when heated "it changes color; it looses its shape; it gets bigger; it melts", Descartes shows that the senses can lie, and that the only true properties of a body are those which remain unchanged. Of the properties the wax initially seems to poses, Descartes reasons that only three are truly properties of the wax, "extended, flexible, and changing". But this definition for wax could apply to many objects, so the senses do not provide enough information to understand the wax.

Descartes example of the wax is important, because it begins with a topic of which the reader seems relatively sure. By attacking the foundation of the reader's trust in the senses, Descartes undermines many of the more complex instances where the senses are relied upon to provide information. Having taken away the reader's trust in the senses, Descartes has opened the reader to other possible forms of reasoning and understanding.

Before addressing pure reason, Descartes tackles another possible method of understanding an extended thing Ð'- the imagination. Descartes postulates that it might be possible to understand an extended thing just by imagining it. Descartes states, "[t]he wax's shape can change in innumerable ways and since I can't run through all the changes in my imagination, my comprehension cannot be the product of my ability to have mental images". By showing