ABSTRACT
In the Second Meditation Descartes has held that the wax is clearly and distinctly perceived as just something extended, flexible and mutable. The Third Meditation develops further the themes of the contrast between the clear and distinct perception of body, and bodies as sensibly perceived. In doing so, it begins the transition from general conclusions about the nature of a body, to conclusions about which of the sensibly ‘perceived’ properties of bodies have correspondents in physical reality. Thus, Descartes argues that only a subset of the properties that a body seems to sense to have are clearly and distinctly ‘perceived in’ it. This leaves him only a step from the Sixth Meditation conclusion that only geometrical properties can be ascribed to the physical world. Also in the Third Meditation, as I will try to show, Descartes gives us a sort of explanation of why we so often fall into the error of confusing our subjective states or sensations (color, odor, heat) with real properties of physical things.
