What Are Descartes Five Senses

The five senses of sight, smell, taste, hearing, and touch are faculties that allow us to perceive the outside world. While everyone is not gifted with all five senses, they do grant us the ability to interaction with our surroundings when they are stimulated. In the Meditations, Descartes examine sensory perception and the role in plays in our lives. He questions how powerful but at the same time insufficient sensory perception is to the overall aspect of the mind. Descartes wants to examine the connection between the mind and body. Throughout the Meditations, Descartes seeks to prove a dualistic view of mind and body. Descartes uses doubt to establish the limits of sensory perception and prove that he has a mind that is distinct from the body. Descartes discovers the concept of metaphysical dualism and its role in the real world. Descartes makes various observations on how the mind and body are somewhat connected …show more content…
The claim that mind and body are separate from one another because of our senses is troubling to understand because we rely so heavily on our senses to live. Descartes does not question on whether our senses help us to live, but rather if they are necessary for our existence. By doubting his senses completely, he comes to terms that they are not necessary for him to be alive and exist. While the senses are the faculties that allow us to experience the external world, he notes that they do not contribute to his overall existence in this world. They are limited to different reactions and could therefore be tricked. Descartes’ dualistic view of mind and body denotes them as two different substances; the mind is a thinking substance, and the body is the extended substance. He only comes to terms with “Res cogitans” and “Res extensa” after doubting everything that is unclear in his life and realizing the inadequateness of what seems so natural to