What is Descartes certain of in meditation 2?

Okay, so Descartes, right? The guy was on a mission. A mission to find something, anything, he could be absolutely sure about. After basically hitting the reset button on everything he thought he knew in his First Meditation (talk about a clean slate!), he dives into Meditation Two looking for solid ground. And guess what? He finds it.

“I Think, Therefore I Am”: That’s Gotta Mean Something

The biggie, the one everyone remembers, is “Cogito, ergo sum” – “I think, therefore I am” . It’s like, even if some evil genius is messing with your head, feeding you fake news 24/7, the very fact that you’re being messed with proves you exist!. Think about it: doubting is thinking. So, saying “I don’t exist” is like trying to argue you’re not talking while you’re talking. It’s a total mind-bender, but it works. For Descartes, this wasn’t just a clever line; it was the bedrock of everything else.

So, What Am I? A Thinking Thing, Apparently.

Okay, so he exists. But what is this “I” that exists? Well, according to Descartes, at least for starters, it’s a “thinking thing” – res cogitans, if you want to get fancy . And “thinking” isn’t just solving math problems. It’s doubting, understanding, feeling, wanting, imagining – basically, anything your mind can do. I mean, I can sit here and think about winning the lottery (hey, a guy can dream!), and that very thought proves I’m here, thinking it. The kicker? He figures this out not by looking at stuff or touching things (because, remember, he’s doubting all that sensory stuff), but by looking inward. It’s all about consciousness, baby.

Wax On, Wax Off: Why Your Senses Lie to You

Then comes the famous wax example. Picture this: you’ve got a chunk of beeswax. It’s got a certain shape, a honey smell, it feels a certain way. But then you put it near a fire. Poof! The shape melts, the smell vanishes, it’s all gloopy. But is it still wax? Of course!

So, what’s the deal? Descartes uses this to show that we don’t understand the wax through our senses, because those change. Instead, our intellect figures out that it’s still wax, even if it looks and feels different. It’s like knowing your friend is still your friend, even if they get a new haircut and start wearing different clothes. It’s about understanding the underlying thing, not just the surface details. This is where Descartes really shows his cards as a “rationalist,” putting reason above the senses.

Mind Over Matter (For Now, Anyway)

All this leads Descartes to a pretty big conclusion: your mind is easier to know than your body. I know, it sounds weird. But he’s saying that while he can doubt the existence of, say, his hand (maybe it’s just a really convincing hologram!), he can’t doubt the existence of the mind that’s doing the doubting. Every thought, every feeling, even every illusion, confirms that your mind is there, chugging along. He can understand his mind more clearly than he can understand the external world.

A Few Caveats, Of Course

Now, it’s not like Descartes thinks he’s got it all figured out in Meditation Two. He knows he’s a thinking thing, but he’s not sure what else he might be. And he’s definitely not ready to say for sure that the mind and body are totally separate (that comes later). He’s still treating the idea of having a body as potentially false. The point of Meditation Two is to get a firm grip on the existence and nature of the mind, so he can build from there.

Basically, Descartes uses Meditation Two to pull himself out of the pit of doubt. He finds certainty in his own existence as a thinking being, emphasizes the power of reason, and suggests that the mind is more accessible than the physical world. It’s a pretty solid foundation, and it sets the stage for the rest of his philosophical journey.