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Wax argument

René Descartes
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Philosophy Cartesianism Rationalism Foundationalism Mechanism Doubt and certainty Dream argument Cogito, ergo sum Evil demon Trademark argument Causal adequacy principle Mind–body dichotomy Analytic geometry Coordinate system Cartesian circle Folium Rule of signs Cartesian diver Balloonist theory Wax argument Res cogitans Res extensa
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The wax argument or the sheet of wax example is a thought experiment that René Descartes created in the second of his Meditations on First Philosophy. He devised it to analyze what properties are essential for bodies, show how uncertain our knowledge of the world is compared to our knowledge of our minds, and argue for rationalism.^[1]^[2]

^ Graziano, Richard G. "Descartes’ wax argument for the sum res cogitans".
^ Newman, Lex, "Descartes' Epistemology", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2010 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.)

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