is not perceived through the senses or the imagination but through the mind alone. It is an inspection of the mind. This inspection is not infallible and its accuracy is dependant upon the attention and speculation given to the subject. Thinking is merely judging, reaching conclusions and assumptions based on connections. Another example would clarify what is meant by "judging and perceiving through the mind alone." Were you to look out the window and watch people crossing the street, you might say that you see the people themselves through the faculty of sight. But what you actually see is clothes, hats, and the like. You perceive these people through an inspection of the mind alone. What things apply to the perception of wax or people can be applied to all things external. If his perception of things becomes clearer once he knows what faculties and reasons are used then he becomes that much more distinctly known to him. He states, "For there is not a single consideration that can aid in my perception of the wax or o any other body that fails to make even more manifest the nature of my mind." Now, as to the problems Descartes creates with his explanations and arguments. It is not so much falsities he states but the omission of clear explanation and justification. The first problem is with reality and existence. He proves his existence in that he thinks, that some separate self consciousness must exist somewhere in order for any thought to take place. He has already cast a shadow over the validity of reality and whether this is a true reality he perceives. Descartes never refutes his own arguments of reality; and yet he includes a body and a soul as part of the "I" in "I think I am." The body and soul are directly linked to reality as he perceives it, the body is his physical extension to reality and the soul is the senses and faculty of motion inside reality. How would these be part of the "I" if reality is but a deception and the onl...
