Descartes Imagination Analysis

Descartes Sixth Meditation is about the distinction between the mind and the body and an affirmation of the existence of material things based on the faculty of imagination on one hand and the other based on the senses. It’s important to this material since the imagination and mental state is linked to physical objects through the senses. He gives an example to illustrate that the imagination affirms the existence of material objects “When I imagine a triangle I not only conceive that it is a figure comprehended by three lines, but at the same time also I look upon these three lines as present by the power and internal application of my mind and this is what I call imagining”. Descartes then makes a distinction between imagination and pure …show more content…
But I think that the mind can operate on its own – it is independent from the brain. For example when it comes to making normative judgments, imagination is not required. Descartes assumes that the brain is necessary for imagination but not for the mind itself. He thinks that imagining requires mental effort not required in understanding. Imagination therefore is not an essential property of one’s mind, since it is not required for existence. This leads him to conclude that imagination is instead tied to the body. Descartes then explains what he can perceive through his senses. He takes it further and says firstly, he sensed that he had hands, feet and other composing parts of his body. He discusses how his senses allow him to determine what is helpful and harmful, and the pleasure and pain of his sensations. He describes his sense of colors, odors, taste, head, shape, movement, and how his sense of these qualities allows him to perceive other bodies. Since these senses are vivid and involuntary, Descartes presumes that they must originate from some outside source. All of Descartes’ special ways of thinking, understanding and sensing cannot exist without understanding. He concludes that imagination and sensation is tied to the body while the understanding comes from the …show more content…
He argues about the material world and its real meaning and leaves us with a world that consist solely of material objects, offering no real reason why it exist. Back to the colors, taste, and sounds, they are not explained properly and are not signs of the way the world really is. The material world that he has proved exists is lacking of exactly those qualitative features that make it such an interesting place. Such as happiness, love, morality and ethics. Another issue that I have with the Sixth Meditation is the relationship between the mind and the body. If the mind is a nonmaterial entity how can it interact with the body, which is a material? There is no evidence that the mind is distant from the body and maintains its interaction with the body. Modern neuroscience shows that the mind and all mental perception are created by activity between neurons in the brain, spine and body. Therefore the mind is a material