Exercise 2

Exercise #2:

 Defining Your Terms

1.      Meditation is the basis for this entire essay. As Descartes searches himself for answers to some of life’s biggest questions,he does so through meditation. He severs himself from the rest of the world leaving him alone with just his own thoughts. 

Meditate- To be in continuous, contemplative thought; to think about doing something. 

2.      After Descartes meditates he finds himself questioning his very existence. This encourages him to not only find a definition for this word, but to also redefine what existence means to him. What of him is real? How does he know? 

Exist- To have actual being or reality; to live.

3.      Questioning his existence leads Descartes to the next big question: what makes him real?  Is it his corporeal self? He disagrees with this knowing his mind is the most important part of him.  He has processed everything he knows about this world through his mind.

Corporeal- Of a physical nature.

4.      Once he realizes his corporeal self was not his “real” self, Descartes decides everything he has learned was through his mind. This in itself had to be questioned because all he had learned he perceived to be true. Can one trust their own perception of the world? By what senses does one gain this information, and if it is through a physical nature have we really gained anything at all?  All good questions Descartes presents. 

Perceive- To become aware of by the senses; to understand; to feel or observe. 

5.      Throughout all of this Descartes questions the certainty of his knowledge. If knowledge is gained by something that can be disproven, is it really knowledge at all? This is the question Descartes faces when meditating. This is the answer he must find for himself.

Certain- Being very sure of something; without any doubt, inevitable; not mentioned but assumed.