ing thing and God. Then, Descartes proceeds to show that external experiences and images which he experiences are neither produced by himself or God. He again confronts the senses of the body. Descartes conjoins the senses of the body with the minds imagination. He states that imagination is not true intellect, and that because of this, imagination may be misleading and not the truth. As he stated when differing between the mind as a thinking thing distinct from or without a body, he reiterates that the bodies senses are receivable, and thus, produce a cloud of doubt over any truths derived from them. Because of this, Descartes does not considers the imagination a source of truth. However, Descartes does use the imagination as a source for the proof of separation of the body and mind. He states:I possess a body with which I am very intimately conjoined, yet because, on the one side, I have a clear and distinct idea of myself inasmuch as I am only a thinking and unextended thing, and as, on the other, I possess a distinct idea of body, inasmuch as it is only an extended and unthinking thing, it is certain that this I (that is to say, my soul by which I am what I am), is entirely and absolutely distinct from my body, and can exist without it, (176).To illustrate that the external world exists, we can regress to Meditation III where Descartes talks about an experience that effected his mind and senses, which he had no control of, which would prove that an external world existed beyond himself or God. When Descartes places his hand near an open flame from a fire, he has no choice of whether or not he wishes to feel the heat from the fire once he places his hand near it. This experience serves to prove that nature, (i.e. an external world), exists because neither God nor Descartes himself willed him to feel heat from the fire. Even if Descartes had willed himself not to, he still would have felt the heat through his senses and his...
