Structure

The structure of the Meditations consists in six meditations on specific philosophical subjects. Each are meant to represent a day of meditation or philosophical thinking. Each also deals with either a specific philosophical problem or several interrelated ones. As such, they can each be thought of as a step in Descartes’ progression from radical doubt to certainty about the world. The sequential nature of these meditations is crucial; in each, Descartes only relies on the ideas he has shown to be true in the previous meditations, thereby gradually building up his knowledge.

To understand both Descartes’ rhetoric and his arguments, it is important to remember that the meditations are a type of journey or exploration. As such, Descartes does not start by giving his thesis or setting out his theory of knowledge. Instead, he only arrives at in the very last pages. This makes it necessary to...