Philosophical Reconstruction - Essay Example

the lone matter or entity that hangs about is the existence of his mind. If this particular issue is considered in the light of metaphysics, the lone thing that exists is his own mind; in the light of epistemology, Descartes can merely understand or, at least, realize that his mind is real and existent, and nothing more. Descartes continues to present his claim, "What about thinking? Here I make my discovery: thought exists; it alone cannot be separated from me. I am; I exist—this is certain. But for how long? For as long as I am thinking; for perhaps it could also come to pass that if I were to cease all thinking I would then utterly cease to exist. I am therefore precisely nothing but a thinking thing; that is, a mind, or intellect, or understanding, or reason—words of whose meanings I was previously ignorant" (Descartes, 19). This part of the texts presents the most critical place, in which nearly all interpreters, observers, and critics infer that Descartes establishes an unbreakable and impenetrable division between the human mind and human body; by simply placing everything as contemplations inside the mind, the outside domain is therefore abolished and disregarded, as with the human body and all other physical and natural occurrences; hence, Descartes can take place as a thinking thing, which takes place autonomously of the body. In reconstruction, the Second Meditation would like to present the following argument: 1. A thing is made up of its possessions and an essential matter to which these “possessions” have their place. (Substantial Concept) 2. The human body exists because of the mind. The mind is what makes the human body parts exist, such that, the hands, the legs, the face, and all other