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DESCARTES’ AIM Descartes in trying to establish his mind and hence his true existence, more clearly, draws an analogy through the wax. He does not yet know what he is and tries to find out. He discusses the physical characteristics of the wax and how they change when he places it over fire, yet the same wax exists. The “thing” now has totally different properties than before and yet we still call it wax. How can two “things” have different properties and yet be the same? TRUE FORM The issue here is how we perceive "what the wax is" and "how it is known to be". A toddler could perceive what we perceive by the senses and would not know what the wax is. How do we acknowledge the wax properly by its essential properties? The essential properties of a thing being those it has to have if it is to exist as that thing, whereas its accidental properties are those it may have, but which are not necessary to be defined as the type of thing that it is. SENSES Descartes understands the wax with his mind, and uses his senses to learn of its characteristics even though they change. He accepts this substance as wax even as its characteristics c