A Critical Analysis of Descartes' First and Second Meditations

This essay provides a comprehensive analysis of René Descartes' First and Second Meditations, delving into his philosophical method of doubt and the pursuit of certainty. The essay examines Descartes' systematic approach to questioning all sources of knowledge, including sensory experiences, dreams, and the possibility of an evil demon, highlighting his foundationalist method and the three waves of doubt. It explores the significance of the "Cogito, Ergo Sum" (I think, therefore I am) and the nature of the human mind. The essay also addresses criticisms of Descartes' method, such as the global skepticism argument and the self-refuting nature of his doubt, while distinguishing between the thinking object and the corporeal object. The analysis seeks to clarify Descartes' understanding of certainty and the implications of his radical philosophical inquiry.

Running Head: DESCARTES FIRST AND SECOND MEDITATION
Student’s Name:
Professor’s Name:
Course:
Date:

1DESCARTES FIRST AND SECOND MEDITATION
Rene Descartes was a French philosopher as well as a mathematician and a Scientist at the same
time. He is considered to have been the first modern philosopher and is famous for his
contributions in geometry and algebra as he found the connection between both of them. The
philosophy of first meditation was developed in the year 1641 (Descartes)The fact that it is
studied in many philosophy classes makes it necessary to investigate how Descartes looked for
the certainty of knowledge, his doubting process, and how arrived at his conclusion. A
significant challenge with the second wave is its wording by Descartes. He argues that "there are
no conclusive signs using which one can distinguish clearly between being awake and being
asleep.” He, however, goes ahead to distinguish between dreams and reality, and this means that
he either contradicted himself or he chose the wrong words to bring forth his argument. It can be
said that the significance of these two waves has been overrated as Descartes only uses them to
get the reader into the process of doubting. In this the first and the second meditation as outlined
by the philosopher Rene Descartes will be discussed in details and the elements that are attached
to the concept of first and second meditation will also be discussed.
The purpose of his first meditation as was to discover something “firm and constant in the
senses.” His sole motivation was to find out what humans, in general, could grasp or know.
Descartes had an outlined meaning for knowledge as he defined it to be something that is
unquestionable. This is to mean that if knowledge is indubitable, then the only way to find out
something you do not doubt is letting go of all the ideologies and illusions which a person has
had throughout their life that can make them have a reason to question or doubt.
Descartes method of doubt was developed in the book ‘Discourse on the Method,' making it an
unavoidable read before analyzing Meditation (Descartes). Descartes employed a method known
as ‘foundationalism.' Using this method, Descartes systematically targets the place from where
the human beings get their knowledge; basically he attacks the source of knowledge. This means
that if he were to analyze every single person's belief, then it would be time-consuming meaning
that it would take a lot of time to get his results. He settled not only to let go of the things he
could substantiate to be untrue but also to also throw away everything his mind could doubt to in
even in the most minimal way. Through this method, his doubt could be perceived to be vocal. In
Meditation 1, Descartes attacks all sources of knowledge by remarking that he associates with a
procedure referred to as ‘global skepticism’ (Rasmussen and Moe 31-42). This means that he

2DESCARTES FIRST AND SECOND MEDITATION
questions everything in the bid to uncover the axioms (truths considered to be self-evident) and
which the world understands can be based on (Descartes). However, the scale at which Descartes
doubt is global is questionable. It is also essential to note that Descartes was on a personal
journey for knowledge, “I shall apply myself seriously and freely to the destruction of all my
former opinions.” Through foundationalism, Descartes uses what he termed as ‘three waves of
doubt’ to attack all origins of information or knowledge. This means that to be able to question
everything, it was crucial to assess all sources of knowledge, including empirical and rational
sources. By the completion of the three waves of doubt, Descartes concluded that he had been
able to doubt everything which is a questionable conclusion to be discussed later.
The first wave of doubt by Descartes involved a sensory unreliability (Stefan 15). He remarks
that ‘’everything I have accepted...I have learned from or through the senses” (Descartes)This
was about the laws of mathematics and geometry he had learned earlier. This means that the
process of learning these laws initially is by our senses. He, however, went ahead to question the
authenticity of sense learning or experiences by stating, “sometimes the senses deceive us,
concerning things which are barely perceivable or at a great distance”. He uses this statement to
mean that senses and their experiences are capable of misleading us from time to time. Another
reliable example of how senses deceive us can be portrayed by AJ Ayer's presentation of a stick
in the water where our eyes perceive the stick to be bent due to the refraction of light while in
real sense it is common knowledge that the stick is straight.
He conceded that there existed a significant variation between mistaking something appearing at
a distance in foggy conditions and things that are immediate to your view. Descartes introduced
his second wave of the doubt to question his own counter-argument. The second wave proposes
that a person could be asleep at the moment and not even figure it out. Reality is more vivid and
outstanding than a dream. For example, when someone is doing an activity, they are normally
much aware of their surrounding environment than they are when they are dreaming about
anything. Descartes used this imagination/hypothesis to suggest that it was likely for him to have
been in a dream while writing his philosophy without his knowledge and that there was a
possibility of waking up from the dream and joke of how funny his dream was (Descartes). The
possibility of Descartes being in a dream according to his arguments makes us be in doubt of our
sensory experiences. He argued that even when we are dreaming, it is impossible for us to come

3DESCARTES FIRST AND SECOND MEDITATION
up with wholly new things but just simply complements of other existing things. He argued that
it is valid and possible to question complicated things like science and philosophy in a dream but
difficult to doubt simple and direct things like mathematics and geometry. He argued that these
are building blocks which are adventitious meaning that their source is outside the dream and are
usually brought into our ‘dream world’. Descartes argued that be it in either a dream or in reality,
two plus three will always add up to five. This led to the third and the final wave of attack.
In this final wave of attack, Descartes starts by affirming his faith in a God who is all-powerful
and loving to the extent of not letting us fall into the deception of what we believe in about the
world surrounding us. Although it is against his will for us or for Descartes to be deceived, it
happens from time to time, and therefore it means that this powerful being allows it. Arguing that
he must proceed with his skepticism to some indefinite lengths, Descartes resolved that maybe
there is “some evil demon, no less cunning and deceiving than powerful, who has used all his
artifice to deceive me” (Descartes). Descartes argued that maybe that demon through its cunning
ways could convince him that the sum of two and three was five while in actual sense it was six1.
At this point, it is now evident to Descartes and even to any reader going through his work that
there is nothing that is entirely true or certain as proven by Descartes. There are various
criticisms to Descartes doubt method that must be understood. One of those criticisms is aimed at
the remark by Descartes that 'nothing is certain' (Adams 403-424). This is a controversial
statement and a source of problems for philosophical skepticism. This statement means that if
you state that nothing can be proven, then you do not know what can be known and what cannot
be known
A lot many critics question the fact whether Descartes himself was a skeptic. Some philosophers
argue that if the quest by Descartes were truly about global skepticism, then it would have been
impossible for him to write his meditations (Khmil, Volodymyr, and Anatolii Malivskyi 168-
178). This is because to do so, it calls for abilities such as reasoning, memory, and articulation.
In this regard, it convinces me that Descartes should not be regarded to as a global skeptic, but
often it is claimed that it was not in Descartes intentions to be considered a global skeptic either.
His waves of doubt were bait he used to entice the reader to accompany him on the journey of
discovery. A crucial target of evaluation is the three methods of doubt by Descartes as they
1

4DESCARTES FIRST AND SECOND MEDITATION
are not free from skepticism. Through his work in ‘An Analytical and Historical Introduction,'
George Dicker brought up an argument. He posted that, “some paintings are forgeries and
therefore all paintings are forgeries”. This is untrue because for a painting to be considered a
forgery, then it means that an original copy of that painting must be out there from which the
forgery was made. This leads to the question of whether Descartes makes this mistake in the first
wave of doubt he uses. He argues that sometimes we get misled by our senses and then he rushes
to conclude that we are deceived by our senses all the time. A modern philosopher while talking
about of Maurice Mandelabaum stated that “one cannot prove that the senses do sometimes
deceive us without assuming that they sometimes do not” (Dicker)Also, the only way Descartes
assessed the unreliability of senses was through his senses, which renders his sentiments to be
self-refuting and damaging to the first wave of doubt (Meijer 977-991).
Rene Descartes’ second meditation stands out compared to the rest. The main significance of the
second meditation lies in the phrase, “Cogito, Ergo Sum,” which when translated to English is, “I
Think Therefore I Am” (Cibangu, Sylvain, and Hepworth 148-160).The second meditation of
Descartes is subtitled as ‘The nature of the human mind and how it is better known than the
body.’ The point that Descartes introduces about the doubting process is as follows, “Accept
nothing as true unless you can be sure that it is uncertain.” In the second meditation he says that
no idea which even has a slightest doubt in it should be believed. The meditation is mostly about
the idea of certainty. Another reason why the second meditation is considered controversial is
because of the fact that he suggests that knowledge is predisposed to criticism and that
everything including oneself is subject to doubt and criticism. The second meditation revolves
around one’s existence and this aspect makes it particularly very fascinating to analyze. The idea
that nothing in the world is certain, the only thing that is certain about the world is certainty. This
essay tries to critically analyze the second meditation to answer two pertinent questions that
emerges from the works of Descartes. The essay will establish why and how Descartes arrives at
his two conclusions, namely, (1) everything can be brought into doubt, and (2) the mind exists as
the subject of experiences. The essay will also explore Descartes’ understanding of certainty for
knowledge while explaining and critiquing the three-stage doubting process anchoring the
meditations. Furthermore, this essay will chalk out the difference between the thinking object
and the corporeal object. He also believes that there is nothing certain about his existence and

5DESCARTES FIRST AND SECOND MEDITATION
according to him the only certain thing is uncertainty. This essay will also look into the reasons
that lead him to develop the idea of ‘Cogito Ergo Sum’.
Descartes thinks that in the second meditation a person should not accept any type of knowledge
unless the person is actually certain about it. There is certain knowledge that can be verified by
the individual and those knowledge’s are unquestionable.
The second meditation by Descartes is a radical philosophy that challenges the status quo.
This phenomena of the existence of doubt is quiet uncommon for many philosophers. According
to Descartes, everything in this world is susceptible to doubt and everything that exists can be
questioned, hence the idea that the only truth that exists is when the human beings think about a
certain thing, their ability to question it, this idea that the human beings can think about it makes
them real and confirms their existence. Consequently, he coins the phrase “I think therefore I
am.”
. Many people know existence since they have been brought up to see life around them.
However, Descartes does not want people to think based on external influences. He roots for
independent thinking because this is the only way to evade people’s opinions and discover truth
based on one’s thoughts. Descartes believes that a certain amount beliefs are a result of the
existence of people. People’s idea of existence is influenced by the fact that they have grown up
in this world. The only reason why Descartes wants people to individual thinking is because of
the fact that the individual ideas is the only that a person can discover the truth about everything.
The radical nature of Descartes philosophy is that, according to the philosophy
everything should be questioned and there exist a doubt in everything. Descartes warns the
general public that what they believe to be true cam actually be false. According to Descartes,
people could have the body and limbs but they could fail to exist if their thinking falters. He is
apprehensive that the body and everything surrounding it could just be deceitful plots and a
matter of dreaming other than making true sense of existence. If a person is not sure that he or
she is dreaming, she/he cannot sure about the existence of everything. An example of this is at
the films are also divided into what is true and what is untrue by distinguishing between the two
types of films which is the fiction and the non-fiction, the former being the dream and the latter
being the real.

6DESCARTES FIRST AND SECOND MEDITATION
Descartes’ strong point in the second meditation is the claim that thinking capacity makes
it impossible to doubt existence. According to him, no one could deceive human thought and not
even dreams could challenge human thought. Thinking is the only thing that remains certain and
dispels all elements of doubt. In the phrase ‘Cogito Ergo Sum’, the world cogito is the world of
knowledge. Human beings are capable of thinking and this makes them capable of proving their
existence. Thinking cannot be false since the process flows biologically. Humans only make
errors in judgment but their thought processes remain intact. Hence, Descartes does not question
the process that forms the thought but the judgment that arise out that process of thought.
Mind-Body Relationship
Descartes also explores a critical subject: the relationship between the mind and body.
From the onset, Descartes makes clear the fact that the mind has a unique relationship with other
parts of the body. The senses that the person has is usually the way by which he/she perceives
things and that is how they make sense of the universe (Lycan 533-542). Descartes writes, “One
body in particular has never been separated from me; I felt all my appetites and emotions in and
on account of this body, but not in other bodies external to it.” The relationship that exists
between the mind and the body is what makes a ‘human being’. During such investigation,
Descartes asks why two things that are utterly different from one another can end up into such an
intimate union. He considers a thinking being and a corporeal being to act in ways that differ
widely since thoughts guide the former while motion guides the latter. It is peculiar how
something that operates purely by thought process influences something that responds only
through movements. Furthermore, it is peculiar how something that acts through movements can
respond to influence from feelings and sensations. Descartes terms this situation the mind-body
problem.
The relationship that exists between the inner and the outer space is what composes the
mind body relationship. In the process of trying to find out more about the unique relationship,
Descartes makes the following observation, “…why that curious sensation of pain should give
rise to a particular distress of mind; or why a certain kind of delight should follow on a tickling
sensation; why that curious tugging in the stomach which I call hunger should tell me I should
eat, or a dryness in the throat tell me to drink; and so on. I was not able to give any explanation
of all this, except that nature taught me so. For there is absolutely no connection between the

7DESCARTES FIRST AND SECOND MEDITATION
tugging sensation and the decision to take food, or between the sensation of something causing
pain and the mental apprehension of distress that arises from that sensation.” The philosopher is
of the view that the correlations are curiously arbitrary just as the words people choose when
speaking always signify their meanings.
Sensations such as the feeling of hunger are linked directly to the mind, which informs
the person that the body wants some food. This kind of response happens arbitrarily in some way
but the body is preconditioned to adjust appropriately. Indeed, it is not possible to entertain
desires of washing, copulating, or other actions not directly linked to the body-mind relationship.
The feelings ad sensations flowing externally have to be linked such that the mind is capable of
instructing the body and vice versa. According to Descartes, the relationship that exists between
the mind and the body exists in a linear fashion. The particle can move only in one direction and
at a constant speed until it lands. Based on the laws of nature, the article is attuned to respond
appropriately among the obeying the law of gravity. The body also reacts in a similar manner.
Based on the line of reasoning above, Descartes confirms that the mind exists as a subject
of experiences. The body, which reacts, feels such experiences and responds based on signals
sent from the mind. External experiences are what make the body to exist, as Descartes later
establishes. It is vital for the body to decipher sensations accurately so that it can help the mind
to end the right signals. Since the mind is not a participate in external happenings, hence the
body touches something and until it reaches the mind the body does not react on it.
Three Stages of Doubt
Descartes’ method of doubt happens in three stages aimed at defeating skepticism.
According to Descartes, the process of having doubt should start by challenging the truth about
everything instead of believing in the evidence presented that are presented in front of the human
being (Hertogh 9-22).
The first stage of doubt is perceptual illusion. Descartes believes that in this stage, the
perception of the external world is never really true because things are not what they seem. In
this stage, something could appear good or bad at first glance but there should be a careful
examination thereof to ascertain deeper truth about it instead of relying on such first instance
perceptions. The only challenge is that people cannot determine at first what accounts are true

8DESCARTES FIRST AND SECOND MEDITATION
based on the possible large number of perceptions available. Basically in this stage, Descartes is
saying nothing, should be taken at face value things have to be questioned and that is how an
individual can shape the perception of the world.
The second stage of meditation has to do with the problem of dream. According to Descartes,
what a person is dreaming is closely related to the things the person does in real life. He points
out that whatever he does when he is awake is a fanciful fabrication of whatever he sees in his
dreams. However, this level of doubt does not hold comprehensively. Truths about physics and
math cannot be challenge don this ground because they remain unaffected largely. Besides, not
everything appears in dreams the way Descartes presupposes. According to him, the dreams are a
manifestation of the desires and wishes that a person has while he/she is awake.
The third stage of doubt revolves around a deceiving god. Descartes returns to religion
where he hypothesizes about god. More precisely, Descartes admits that there could be an
omnipotent god although such a god could exist only to deceive him. He is apprehensive that a
belief in god could lead him into believing the wrong things. For example, the omnipotent god
could decide to change the world in such a manner that makes Descartes’ beliefs utterly false.
This line of thinking convinces Descartes that it is proper to doubt everything to be on the safe
side.
The Nature of a Thinking Thing
Descartes has the following observation about a thinking thing:
“What about thinking? Her I make my discovery: thought exists; it alone cannot
be separated from me. I am; I exist – this is certain. But for how long? For as long
as I am thinking; for perhaps it could also come to pass that if I were to cease all
thinking I would then utterly cease to exist. At this time I admit nothing that is not
necessarily true. I am therefore precisely nothing but a thinking thing; that is a
mind, or intellect, or understanding, or reason – words of whose meanings I was
previously ignorant. Yet I am a true thing and am truly existing; but what kind of
thing? I have said it already: a thinking thing.”
Descartes’ entire conception of a thinking thing emerges from the quote above. To him,
thinking and exiting happen simultaneously. It is impossible for something to think when that

9DESCARTES FIRST AND SECOND MEDITATION
thing does not exist and vice versa. Since thinking is part of a biological process and requires a
being to exercise all intellectual faculties which means that a corpse cannot think for lack of
active biological processes (Serrat 1095-1100).
The era of machines operating as humans brings Descartes’ account of a thinking thing
into question. For example, robots today execute functions independently such that many
organizations have started to get rid of their employees. Robots can do literally everything that a
human does although they operate from artificial intelligence instead of human intelligence. In
many cases, robots operate based on computer programming that tells them what to do. They
cannot act outside the programs, as doing do would be detrimental to the flow of work for which
the robot is assigned. A robot’s mind is the mind of the computer that directs it to do something.
Descartes’ main statement to support the nature of a thinking thing is, “I think therefore I
am”. One would wonder who the “I” is since the development of artificial intelligence makes
robots capable of thinking as well. There are also self-driving cars that do not require a human
driver to operate behind the wheel. Under such circumstances, Descartes’ claim would be subject
to a very tough test.
The “I” has connotations of consciousness, which make the ideal distinction between a
thinking thing and another that does not think (Chapman, Colin, and Huffman 1). It becomes
quite challenging to measure a machine’s consciousness. A machine acts based on the commands
it receives from computer programming. It cannot respond to external language cues regardless
of the efforts placed at influencing it.
Determining consciousness also differs widely based on western and eastern
philosophical accounts entangled in religious fundamentals. Eastern philosophies generally
conceive consciousness as the fundamental reality of human beings. On the contrary, western
philosophers generally conceive consciousness as something that develops throughout the life.
The Nature of a Corporeal Thing
Descartes applies the doubt method to his thoughts across his Meditations. This means
that any slight justification for doubt ruins the whole thing as far as truth is concerned. He begins
Meditations on the ground that everything he has is safer and truer since he has learned them
from human senses (Moore, 394-408). Descartes is confident that the fact that he is a victim of

10DESCARTES FIRST AND SECOND MEDITATION
deception from his senses does not matter since he has the power to control the senses and notice
anything doubtful about them.
To understand the concept of corporeal, Descartes brings the example of wax to
demonstrate how his body under examination. He writes, “Let us take, for example, this piece of
wax: it has been taken quite freshly from the hive, and it has not yet lost the sweetness of the
honey which it contains; it still retains somewhat of the odor of the flowers from which it has
been culled; its color, its figure, its size, are apparent; it is hard, cold, easily handled, and if you
strike it with the finger, it will emit a sound” (Descartes).
Descartes Is Certain of His Existence as a Mind
Everything about the Second Meditation as interlinked with the other meditations proves
Descartes’ central claim that he exists because he is a mind. He is convinced that the body cannot
function without the mind and neither do external influences determine what becomes of a
person. For example, in the mind-body problem, Descartes illustrates how the two interact
naturally such that the body’s sensations triggers brain signal that inform the body the right kind
of action. This arrangement proves that the mind is superior of the two since it determines how
the body should react to solve a problem.
Conclusion
Descartes remains a controversial philosopher owing to the manner in which he presented
radical philosophical accounts. His second meditation is fascinating because he embarks on
doubting everything as long as he has not established a sufficient threshold of certainty as to its
truth. Whether his accounts hold in the contemporary sense is a question for philosophers today
to explore further. However, Descartes has established that existence is all about the mind and its
pertinent thought processes. Humans become superior to artificial machines out of the natural
endowment of the mind and its interaction with the body and external influences.

11DESCARTES FIRST AND SECOND MEDITATION
References
Adams, Marcus P. "The wax and the mechanical mind: Reexamining Hobbes's objections to
Descartes's Meditations." British Journal for the History of Philosophy 22.3 (2014): 403-424.
Cibangu, Sylvain K., and Mark Hepworth. "The uses of phenomenology and phenomenography:
A critical review." Library & Information Science Research 38.2 (2016): 148-160.
Meijer, Michiel. "A phenomenological approach with ontological implications? Charles Taylor
and Maurice Mandelbaum on explanation in ethics." Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 20.5
(2017): 977-991.
Stefan, Ionut. "ON THE PRIMARY-SYNTHETIC UNITY OF APPERCEPTION IN THE
CRITIQUE OF PURE REASON." Agathos 5.1 (2014): 15.
Rasmussen, Anders Moe. "René Descartes: Kierkegaard’s Understanding of Doubt and
Certainty." Volume 5, Tome I: Kierkegaard and the Renaissance and Modern Traditions-
Philosophy. Routledge, 2016. 31-42.
Khmil, Volodymyr, and Anatolii Malivskyi. "Contemporary reception of Rene Descartes’
skepticism." Philosophy and Cosmology 19 (2017): 168-178.
Lycan, William G. "Is property dualism better off than substance dualism?." Philosophical
Studies 164.2 (2013): 533-542.
Hertogh, C. P. "Thought Experiment Analyses of René Descartes' Cogito." Trans/Form/Ação
39.3 (2016): 9-22.
Serrat, Olivier. "Critical thinking." Knowledge Solutions. Springer, Singapore, 2017. 1095-1100.

12DESCARTES FIRST AND SECOND MEDITATION
Chapman, Colin A., and Michael A. Huffman. "Why do we want to think humans are different?."
Animal Sentience 3.23 (2018): 1.
Moore, Phoebe. "Tracking bodies, the quantified self and the corporeal turn." The International
Political Economy of Production (2015): 394-408.
Descartes, René. René Descartes: Meditations on first philosophy: With selections from the
objections and replies. Cambridge University Press, 2013.
Dicker, Georges. Descartes: An analytic and historical introduction. Oxford University Press,
2013.