Question

How, according to Descartes, can I know that there really are certain particular bodies around me (e.g., a fire, a dressing gown, a piece of wax)?

(a) When a body affects my sense organ, an impulse travels up a nerve to my brain, which in turn moves my soul to experience sense perceptions. So, under normal circumstances, I can take such sense perceptions as evidence that an external body is present.

(b) My perceptions are not caused by other bodies directly, but by God. And God is not a deceiver.

(c) Everything I formerly attributed to these bodies (e.g. the color and hardness of the wax) turns out really to be a property of my soul. And I know for certain that my soul exists.

(d) Because I know that I am a finite — that is, limited — soul, I know that my body must also be finite, i.e. that there must be other bodies outside of it.

(e) (a), (b) and (d).

(f) None of the above.

Answer 1

• option a,b and d
• When a body affects my sense organ, an impulse travels up a nerve to my brain, which in turn moves my soul to experience sense perceptions. So, under normal circumstances, I can take such sense perceptions as evidence that an external body is present.
• My perceptions are not caused by other bodies directly, but by God. And God is not a deceiver
• Because I know that I am a finite — that is, limited — soul, I know that my body must also be finite, i.e. that there must be other bodies outside of it.