The Experiment of Wax in Modern Science

Kenny Elliott

Professor Laughland

Philosophy 202

February 11, 2015

The Experiment of Wax in Modern Science

In Rene Descartes’ writing of the Meditations on First Philosophy in which the Existence of God and the separation of the Mind from the Body are Demonstrated, there are many notable conclusions. The one that I felt was most important and most prevalent in today’s society was the experiment with the piece of wax. Here we can see how the human senses are deceivable by the nature of reality. What we first perceive to be the truth through our senses in actuality is false. Which results in the conclusion that our senses are unreliable. We have seen this experiment come into play in a number of scientific discoveries over the course of our history. Of which being the discovery of the heliocentric model by Nicolaus Copernicus, the idea that the earth was flat, and the discovery of gravity. All of these resulted in experiments that proved how our senses deceive us and in the end are unreliable. From this we must conclude that we cannot rely on our senses alone, but rather on repeated and controlled experiments.

In the experiment with the piece of wax, Descartes first made observations about the wax when it was in a solid state. He was able to determine its definite shape and size. As well as it’s smell, taste, and temperature. After he applied heat to the wax through the use of a stove, everything changed. The honey flavor was now gone. The flowery scent was no longer distinguishable. The overall shape of the wax had been altered and it was very hot to the touch. Our senses are telling us that it is a different entity but in reality it is still the same wax that we started the experiment with. We must be able to think outside of our basic senses and use our intellect as well as our imagination to come to scientific conclusions. Descartes states this by saying, “I would not judge incorrectly what the wax is if I did not believe that it takes on an ever greater...