Imaginations Effect on the Senses and Existence Descartes invites us to the realm of rationalism in which certainty and knowledge

e can only come from reason - judgments of the mind. In the Meditations on First Philosophy, Descartes discovers that thought exists; it alone cannot be separated from me. I am; I exist...if I were to cease all thinking I would then utterly cease to exist.1 He here has made a clear analysis that existence relies on his thoughts - that thought exists and therefore he exists. Now understanding what influences existence, we must realize more what encompasses thought. Whatever thought relies on is what, equally, existence relies on. Analyzing the first two meditations, we can infer that at its root, the senses, are what thought relies on; Imagination is the key for the senses to affect thought, and through affecting thought, influences the nature of existence. I will show the relationship between the imagination and the senses, and more importantly prove that imagination is more than just a contemplation of corporeal things, but an important part of Descartes thought and the leading force in the process of reasoning. Since it is clear that thought is existence, I will prove my declaration that senses are a part of existence by affirming the effect imagination has on thought and the senses effect on imagination, We can easily determine that Descartes believes that imagination is affected by the senses. He defines the senses as functions perceived by touch, sight, hearing, taste, or smell.2 The senses include any physical or tangible feature found in nature - what

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we would consider a part of the material world. This includes shapes and images, certain sounds and combination of pitches, as well as the texture of objects. Having a clear definition of the senses, we can move on to the concept of imagination. Descartes defines imagination as merely the contemplating of the shape or image of a corporeal thing3 corporeal meaning the physical objects and sounds found through our senses. They are the tangible shapes, sounds, and pictures belonging to the material world. Imagination is a complex term that not only means to picture a tangible object or sound in the mind, but to be creative and innovative about the material things brought to the mind a process of thinking. In one form, imagination is to create something from what already exists. Imagination challenges our senses of physical features in nature. It is less about being creative and more on being innovative. To imagine, we must question what is already present. Imagination inspires us to think the unthinkable and question its reasons for being so. In the first meditation, Descartes references sirens and satyrs not being thought up as means of especially bizarre forms4 but as creatures in which painters simply fuse together the members of various animals5. Imagination is not a free, artistic thought, but as Descartes stated is a more controlled thought process that is affected by its surroundings; it is not original in some divine uniqueness, but original only when compared to what is already present. The unicorn is not an entirely unique creation, but is instead a twist on the creation that
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is already found in nature, in this case a horse with an added horn. It is therefore bound to encompass bias judgments because imagination allows nature to be part of the thought. It inevitably will be shaped by factors outside from our thoughts. These outside thoughts are the pictured senses from the material world. Imagination is not a stagnate picture in the mind, but is in its own way a process of thinking. It requires time in which we as thinkers carefully pick through our set judgments for creative ideas. The imagination is used to challenge the senses in the mind with those outside of the mind. It forces us to infuse the senses and reasoning, creating objects, sounds and visions that are already present into a new, more unique commodity. Imagination is a procedure that requires more than just the senses, but forces us to reason with these senses. We would consider it the locomotive for reasoning that requires effort and is the driving force of thought. More importantly, imagination is the initial thought of our reasoning. It is the element that sparks interest for the process of reasoning. It is more or less the reason we reason. Imagination and reasoning are similar in many ways. Both elements are parts of thinking that require a process in order to accomplish. There is a process of analysis when reasoning as well as a process of comparing and challenging our senses when imagining. They both require some question or controversy thought in order to develop into deeper thoughts. Inevitably, we as thinkers must question in order to reason just as we must question in order to imagine. It is with imagination that we rationalize our thoughts in order to question what is already conceptualized through our senses. After Descartes realizes that he exists

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through thought, he says I am a true thing and am truly existing; but what kind of thing? I have said already: a thinking thing. What else am I? I will set my imagination in motion.6 In this situation, Descartes realizes that he is a thinking thing and continues to question in order to reason more about his existence. He must use his thought and his process of reasoning to question understand more about his existence, however, instead says that the imagination is set in motion. Descartes uses the term imagination in the same context that he uses thought. In order for the thought to be set in motion, the imagination must be set in motion, thus hinting that imagination is a process that requires motion and thought to function. Descartes uses his thought process and reasoning in order to question his existence, but instead decides to set his imagination in motion, knowing that it will challenge the thought and begin his long process of reasoning in order to understand more of his existence. In this context, both reasoning and imagining are interchangeable words. It takes thought to imagine just as it would takes reason to imagine. They both require more effort and use of thought and the mind. Imagination represents the creative faculty of the mind, the process of the mind used for questioning new ideas, forming opinions and crafting more individual thoughts, and is thus, is a process of reasoning and part of thought. It is a key component of thought. It also plays the role as the influence for reasoning, and, being shaped and determined by the material world, is affected by the senses. Imagination requires effort to involve both thought and sensory perceptions; it is why the senses are
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a crucial part of existence. The senses influence the imagination; imagination is a part of thought and thought is what determines existence. Therefore, the senses are a way of defining our existence through imagination and the bias process of reasoning.