Introduction
The Cartesian Project aimed to remove all the doubtful thoughts and knowledge, creating only truthful statements based on self-evidence. The proposed methodology cultivated knowledge uncertainty that expresses self-existence ideas and thinking processes. The main factors that persuaded Descartes to pursue the Cartesian Project were the theories of Copernicus and Galileo and their views of the universe as a whole system with the sun as its center.
It all drove the creation of Cartesian Psychophysical Dualism, a part of the Cartesian Project. This notion embodies human substances of physical and spiritual existence. Being different and, at the same time, included in one unity, these two substances do not harm each other and let a person live their everyday life normally. Descartes stated that the soul practically does not use the body and is eternal and independent.
Descartes’s Philosophy
Descartes initiated the existence of an “evil deceiver” that impacted people’s consciousness, sensibility, and knowledge. It was introduced to prove the existence of God because none of the concepts can be considered without their opposite image. The introduction of the “Evil Deceiver” raised the problem of the two worlds that Descartes created—God and the Evil Deceiver. God’s existence cannot be proved through the Evil Deceiver’s existence, so this is the problem with the theory.
Here, the problem of his discovery method appears, where the leading role is played by the idea of God’s image and existence. These problems, which also impacted the Project’s further development, were overcome through Descartes’s interpretation of the Evil Deceiver as the basis for doubt, which cannot be obscured by something more dominant. He avoided the explication of the Deceiver in terms of God’s existence, proving and managing to emphasize God’s essence and, at the same time, disproving the Deceiver’s.
The “Ball of Wax” is the notion that focuses on Descartes’s question of whether God is the cause of the idea of physical bodies. On the other hand, he tries to discount this notion because the concept is based on the physical body itself, not God, who is perfection. To prove this idea, Descartes gives an illustrative example of a ball of wax derived from a beehive.
He points out the balls’ physical features that create a unique distinction of this material, but after a few manipulations, these features change. It asserts that things are not always clear and distinct, even though they create such a first impression. However, it remains the same wax, which has lost its features but retains its initial properties that allow people to claim it is wax.
Nevertheless, Descartes states that initial properties are unchangeable and constant, and are truthful. He says that this experiment shows that physical material may be extended and can change, which means that nothing belongs to material things, only extension in physical mutations. This idea provides the understanding that qualities that people perceive exist not in physical bodies but in them through different senses.
Conclusion
Descartes introduced Cartesian Circularity to show that anything perceived distinctly is true. He justifies this statement by saying that such a perception is ensured by God, who would not allow a mistaken notion to be rooted in people’s minds. This opinion is based on Descartes’s first proof of God’s existence. Although his proof cannot be a hundred to one, it can contain errors. Eventually, distinct perceptions directly depend on the belief in God’s existence and vice versa.