Rene Descartes Rationalism

Does Descartes’ Wax Example succeed in proving rationalism?

Through his meditations Rene Descartes brings up the idea of rationalism. Rationalism holds the belief that we are born with innate ideas and that we use reasoning to gain knowledge. Accordingly we later obtain knowledge through sense experience, as the information is justified by our reasoning and innate ideas. The foundations of rationalism are the ideas that we are born with, in addition to the information we obtain through reasoning and deduction. To illustrate the idea of rationalism, Descartes brings up the wax analogy to help illustrate the concept of rationalism. The wax analogy clearly portrays how rationalism is fundamental in understanding how the new, unrecognizable wax

In this way the wax is not just a set of physical properties that our senses take in, it is the wax itself. Baker states, “Sensory perceptions are simply a way that the body of wax presented itself to us.” (Baker). Baker takes the stance that the properties of the wax are just our sensory experience of it. However to recognize that the wax as a constant in each state, one has to consider the wax itself without taking into account the qualities the senses experience. Accordingly as the nature of the wax cannot be perceived by the senses, and that rationalism is essential in order to understand the nature of the wax. Rationalism does not attribute the wax to just its properties. It helps to comprehend the fact that the wax, even without a specific set of qualities can still be the exact wax. Rationalism assumes that the wax is extendable, flexible, and changeable. This in turn helps one to judge that the wax is a constant and can have and change properties. Therefore, even if the properties of the wax are taken away, the nature of the wax portrays that the properties are not essential to distinguish the wax from each of its states. Accordingly rationalism confirms the idea that that wax is not one specific set of properties, but something that is extendable, flexible, and

A common criticism of Descartes’ theory is that rationalism is unnecessary in understanding the wax example. Furthermore the argument claims that sensory experience alone can comprehend the wax example due to the space and temporal location of the wax. The empiricist claim to the wax example assumes the idea that only because the location of the wax is a constant, the wax must also remain a constant. However this is not the case as without the perception of the nature of the wax, it is impossible to formulate the idea that the wax is has altered properties but remains the same wax. This is because sensory experience can only recognize the properties of the wax. Sensory experience cannot formulate the conclusion that wax is a constant only because of the location as well as being extendable, flexible, and changeable. In addition it is evident that the liquid version of the wax expands and not a fixed shape. Therefore empiricist claim is unsound because in order to gain knowledge other than the properties of each state of wax, rationalism is essential to provide insight into the reasoning behind the change of the properties of the wax. This is why rationalism is crucial in order to understand the wax