Beginning of Essay
. In his First, Second, and Sixth Meditations, Descartes outlines and carries out part of his plan in search of the indubitable. With the proposal of an "evil genius" and the noted fallibility of the senses, he casts potential doubt on virtually all fundamental kn ....

Middle of Essay
.... deceiver who may potentially deceive him in everything he appears to observe and think about. His consideration of this is valid and necessary, however I might point out one fault. The mere fact that he continues optimistically in his pursuits after the considerations in this section shows his implicit belief that he is not being deceived in his current or future deliberations on the matter. This simple fact seems to contradict the very essence of this meditation. The Second Meditation continues to address the issues of evil deception in body and mind, and aims primarily to draw the conclusion that although at this point the existence of the body a ....