Group 1: Paper 3

8/4/2019 Group 1: Paper 3

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Imaginations Effect on the Senses and Existence

Descartes invites us to the realm of rationalism in which certainty and

knowledge can only come from reason - judgments of the mind. In the Meditations on

First Philosophy, Descartes discovers that thought exists; it alone cannot be separated

from me. I am; I exist...if I were to cease all thinking I would then utterly cease to

exist. 1 He here has made a clear analysis that existence relies on his thoughts - that

thought exists and therefore he exists. Now understanding what influences existence,

we must realize more what encompasses thought. Whatever thought relies on is what,

equally, existence relies on. Analyzing the first two meditations, we can infer that at its

root, the senses, are what thought relies on; Imagination is the key for the senses to

affect thought, and through affecting thought, influences the nature of existence. I will

show the relationship between the imagination and the senses, and more importantly

prove that imagination is more than just a contemplation of corporeal things, but an

important part of Descartes thought and the leading force in the process of reasoning.

Since it is clear that thought is existence, I will prove my declaration that senses are a

part of existence by affirming the effect imagination has on thought and the senses

effect on imagination,

We can easily determine that Descartes believes that imagination is affected by

the senses. He defines the senses as functions perceived by touch, sight, hearing, tas te,

or smell. 2 The senses include any physical or tangible feature found in nature - what

1 Rene` Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy, 192 IBID 19


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we would consider a part of the material world. This includes shapes and images,

certain sounds and combination of pitches, as well as the texture of objects. Having a

clear definition of the senses, we can move on to the concept of imagination. Descartes

defines imagination as merely the contemplating of the shape or image of a corporeal

thing 3 corporeal meaning the physical objects and sounds found through our

senses. They are the tangible shapes, sounds, and pictures belonging to the material

world.

Imagination is a complex term that not only means to picture a tangible object

or sound in the mind, but to be creative and innovative about the material things

brought to the mind a process of thinking. In one form, imagination is to create

something from what already exists. Imagination challenges our senses of physical

features in nature. It is less about being creative and more on being innovative.

To imagine, we must question what is already present. Imagination inspires us

to think the unthinkable and question its reasons for being so. In the first meditation,

Descartes references sirens and satyrs not being thought up as means of especially

bizarre forms 4 but as creatures in which painters simply fuse together the members of

various animals 5. Imagination is not a free, artistic thought, but as Descartes stated is

a more controlled thought process that is affected by its surroundings; it is not original

in some divine uniqueness, but original only when compared to what is already present.

The unicorn is not an entirely unique creation, but is instead a twist on the creation that

3 IBID 204 IBID 155 IBID 15


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is already found in nature, in this case a horse with an added horn. It is therefore bound

to encompass bias judgments because imagination allows nature to be part of the

thought. It inevitably will be shaped by factors outside from our thoughts. These

outside thoughts are the pictured senses from the material world.

Imagination is not a stagnate picture in the mind, but is in its own way a process

of thinking. It requires time in which we as thinkers carefully pick through our set

judgments for creative ideas. The imagination is used to challenge the senses in the

mind with those outside of the mind. It forces us to infuse the senses and reasoning,

creating objects, sounds and visions that are already present into a new, more unique

commodity. Imagination is a procedure that requires more than just the senses, but

forces us to reason with these senses. We would consider it the locomotive for

reasoning that requires effort and is the driving force of thought.

More importantly, imagination is the initial thought of our reasoning. It is the

element that sparks interest for the process of reasoning. It is more or less the reason

we reason. Imagination and reasoning are similar in many ways. Both elements are

parts of thinking that require a process in order to accomplish. There is a process of

analysis when reasoning as well as a process of comparing and challenging our senses

when imagining. They both require some question or controversy thought in order to

develop into deeper thoughts. Inevitably, we as thinkers must question in order to

reason just as we must question in order to imagine.

It is with imagination that we rationalize our thoughts in order to question what

is already conceptualized through our senses. After Descartes realizes that he exists


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through thought, he says I am a true thing and am truly existing; but what kind of

thing? I have said already: a thinking thing. What else am I? I will set my imagination

in motion.6

In this situation, Descartes realizes that he is a thinking thing and

continues to question in order to reason more about his existence. He must use his

thought and his process of reasoning to question understand more about his existence,

however, instead says that the imagination is set in motion. Descartes uses the term

imagination in the same context that he uses thought. In order for the though t to be

set in motion, the imagination must be set in motion, thus hinting that imagination is a

process that requires motion and thought to function. Descartes uses his thought

process and reasoning in order to question his existence, but instead decides to set his

imagination in motion, knowing that it will challenge the thought and begin his long

process of reasoning in order to understand more of his existence. In this context, both

reasoning and imagining are interchangeable words. It takes thought to imagine just as

it would takes reason to imagine. They both require more effort and use of thought and

the mind.

Imagination represents the creative faculty of the mind, the process of the mind

used for questioning new ideas, forming opinions and crafting more individual

thoughts, and is thus, is a process of reasoning and part of thought. It is a key

component of thought. It also plays the role as the influence for reasoning, and, being

shaped and determined by the material world, is affected by the senses. Imagination

requires effort to involve both thought and sensory perceptions; it is why the senses are

6 IBID 19


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a crucial part of existence. The senses influence the imagination; imagination is a part

of thought and thought is what determines existence. Therefore, the senses are a way of

defining our existence through imagination and the bias process of reasoning.

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Group 1: Paper 3