A Personal Reflection On Descartes' Second Meditation

ON MEDITATION II: THE SOUL’S HOPE OF IMMORTALITY As Descartes himself maintained, Meditation II, although more of a work that primarily seeks to draw a clear line of distinction between the body and the mind, points importantly to the truth that human souls are indeed immortal. As a matter of fact, a clear idea how the mind differs from the body, or how the body differs from the mind, will serve as a rational basis for us to accept without any trace of a doubt that our souls possess immortality. As Descartes declared in his synopsis of Meditation II, Now, the first and chief pre-requisite for the knowledge of the immortality of the soul is our being able to form the clearest possible conception (conceptus-concept) of the soul itself, and such as shall be absolutely distinct from all our notions of the body.1 As a Roman Catholic, I believe that Descartes did not simply profess what his religion taught him regarding the immortality of

1 René Descartes, Meditation II: Meditations on First Philosophy, Translated by John Veitch (Buffalo, New York: Prometheus Books, 1989), 68.

our souls. He went beyond his religion without, at the same time, undervaluing its instructions. This, for me, is the most important insight that Descartes’ Meditation II imparts: that is, when Descartes went beyond the boundaries of Catholicism without setting it aside, he showed that the truth concerning the soul’s immortality is not an exclusive tenet of any particular religion and that, even without religion, there is every reason to “hope [for] a future life.”2 Even the German philosopher, Immanuel Kant, understood how important the soul’s immortality is in the moral development of human beings.3 Interestingly, Descartes asked himself at one point: “What did I perceive which any animal might not have perceived?”4 Obviously, brutes can never hope for immortality because, aside from the fact that they do not have immortal souls like us human beings, they cannot perceive like we humans do. Animals’ perception is mere sensation. They cannot perceive 2

Ibid., 69.

3 See Samuel Enoch Stumpf and James Fieser, Socrates to Sartre and Beyond: A History of Philosophy (Boston: Mc Graw-Hill, 2005), 300-301. 4

Descartes, Meditations, 84.

what the ordinary senses cannot. In other words, animals have no way of perceiving the immortality of the souls. Consequently, a human being is more than capable of perceiving beyond ordinary sensation. He can apprehend the immortality of the souls. This capacity is what, in fact, separates human beings from beasts. That is to say, because human beings can perceive his immortality unlike the animals, he should not pretend that his soul is a mere mortal creation. Living our lives in view of our immortality denotes a lot of implications. First of all, as Descartes would surely counsel, we ought to think rightly. Right thinking in Descartes’ mind, of course, would be following the four Cartesian Rules, namely: (1) Never

accept anything as true which is not known clearly and distinctly to be true. (2)Subdivide complex problems into as many simpler parts as necessary in order to arrive at a satisfactory solution. (3)Arrange ideas in an orderly sequence from the simplest to the more and more complex, with due regard, however, for the natural sequence of events. (4) Take into account the most detailed points or facts and make certain that nothing is omitted.5

5 René Descartes cited by William S. Sahakian, History of Philosophy (New York: Barnes & Noble, 1968), 134.

Definitely, right thinking is not simply a mere intellectual exercise and discipline of the mind to think properly. Right thinking presupposes the observance of morality. This is what the Cartesian Maxims and Ethics signify. According to Sahakian, Descartes, aware that the four principles could not be immediately implemented, suggested that the following practical rules of everyday conduct be regularly practiced: (1) obey the laws and customs of the nation, your religious faith, and your family tradition, and avoid extremes of behavior; (2) stand by the convictions you have formed and be resolute in the course of action you have chosen; (3) adapt yourself and your ambitions to your environment and fortune, instead of defying them; and (4) carefully choose the life work which will be best for you.6 Furthermore, right thinking may also be taken to mean as right volition, decision, and contemplation. It means not having thoughts of greed, hatred, and ignorance that continually occupy our minds and cloud our hope and yearning for immortality.7 Incidentally, in Buddhism, Right Thinking is listed among the means –that is to say, the Eightfold Path -to attain nirvana or enlightenment. Above all, strikingly, a life lived in view of nirvana by making use of the eight noble means is very much the same 6

Ibid.

7 For details, see Venerable Hsing Yun, The Essence of Buddhism (No publisher and copyright year), 38.

as a life lived in view of immortality. Consequently, I wonder how Descartes might have reacted if he had had the chance to study Buddhism during his lifetime. The

Eightfold

Path

in

Buddhism

includes

Right

Understanding, Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Meditation. All these can undoubtedly be of great help as we strive to make a better way of living in view of our immortality. Naturally, we cannot hope to be immortal if we remain immoral

because

the

souls’

immortality

necessitates

the

existence of God who is perfect.8 Anyhow, while I do recognize that Buddhism has much to say to our moral development, I believe it would be rather unfair to skip Christianity altogether. After all, Descartes was a professed Roman Catholic and remained so until his death. As we all know, a Christian is always exhorted to live his life not only in view of immortality, but also to believe that God in the heavens has a room in store for him there. Biblical sayings as “Store up for yourselves riches in heaven,” “Fix your eyes on 8

Descartes’ proofs on God’s existence are treated extensively in his Meditation III.

Jesus,” “Run to win the race,” “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul,” are only a few of the many that manifest where a Christian like myself, ought to direct my life towards. So, indeed, if it helps that we have to distinguish at length what difference exists between the mind –or better yet, the soul –and the body in order for us to arrive at the certitude of our souls’ immortality, then all the more the better. At any rate, Descartes is very much of help: He leads us step by step into the real nature of both the mind and body all throughout Meditation II and affords us, in the end, more than a glimpse of our souls’ immortality.