Nothing has ever progressed without building upon the less advanced that existed before it. Everything needs a step upon which to climb and build the next level, continuing forever an endless staircase. Knowledge is no exception, in that it too requires building upon the fundamentals in order to ascend towards the Truth. Building each step requires a pursuit for knowledge through persistent questioning, and ultimately finding a faultless answer. Humanity has progressed only because each person has built upon that which they know, and has questioned every aspect of life. It is this sequence of inquisition and answering that have plagued man since the beginning of time. Rene Descartes introduced a branch of epistemology based on this principle. Descartes required a foundation upon which he could build his knowledge on. He set forth to determine the essential properties by which we define our material world. He theorized that any belief that could be doubted was not cert!
             ain, and therefore could not be true. In a particular passage from Meditations on First Philosophy, Descartes argues that senses of the body are unable to perceive anything, and that it is only the mind that can do so. He determines this through an "experiment" known as the Wax Argument.
             The Second Meditation is based on the nature of the human mind, and how it is better known than the body. In this passage, he begins his ascendance into the
             Wax Argument. This discussion is an attempt to prove that the essential properties of things are not perceived through the senses, but through the mind. Descartes comes to this conclusion by simply examining a piece of wax. He investigates a piece of bee's wax that has freshly been taken from a honeycomb. He notes how it was not completely lost the taste of honey nor lost the smells of the flowers from where it was gathered. (Descartes, 120). He also points out the obvious color, shape, and si...