uration of his existence, he will remain a thinking thing. Thinking is the ability to doubt, affirm, deign, act on will, and use imagination and sensory perceptions.When Descartes affirms that he exists, he recognizes that his existence cannot depend on anything that he could “feign in [his] imagination”. (28) The word ‘feign’ is at the root of the potential error; to feign an idea is to invent it. So it is clear that the things that are thought of in the imagination are inherently fictitious. Imagining something tangible (or “corporeal”) is to perceive its “shape or image”. (28) Such images could be dreams, so it is clear that using the imagination to establish truths is a flawed approach. Imagining one’s existence is as useless and flawed as choosing to enter a dream in order to better understand something that was seen in reality.What is the purpose of this dialog that Descartes is having with himself? It is more then an invitation to philosophical reflection, since he is encouraging his readers to follow along and conduct the arguments with him. Descartes is guiding the reader to discover purely intellectual conceptions of mind, matter and God. The ultimate goal is a true, unpolluted view of the world. In Descartes’ view, the only way to arrive at true conclusions is to begin with premises that are never false. By this method, one starts by accepting nothing as being true – even those things that we would never think of questioning. If one thing can be found to be true, it can be leveraged and used to build a strong foundation for knowledge. In the Second Meditation, Descartes sets out to prove that the pinnacle truth is that he exists. At first, this truth must be disconnected from other perceptions and thoughts, such as those conjured by the senses (his body, and the world around him). The next realization is that his existence is connected to thinking, ...
