"How do we know what we know?" This is a question asked by Rene Descartes as well as a host of other philosophers. A particular passage written in Meditations on First Philosophy by Descartes dubbed the "Wax Passage" examined the nature of material things, and what we really know about them. Descartes' thought process shall be followed, and his conclusion that if all attributes are stripped away, what is left is the "essence" of the …showed first 75 words of 602 total…

…showed last 75 words of 602 total…but through the mind alone. The "essence" of material things can present themselves in many ways, but that is all they are, presentations. The "essence" itself resides behind the attributes. This depart from the traditional idea of gaining knowledge about the outside world through the senses was crucial to Descartes goal to amass a body of "undeniable truths", as he had formed the theory that the senses could be decieved, but the could not mind