As to body I had no
manner of doubt about its nature, but thought I had a very
clear knowledge of it; and if I had desired to explain it
according to the notions that I had then formed of it, I
should have described it thus: By the body I understand all
that which can be defined by a certain figure: something
which can be confined in a certain place, and which can fill a
given space in such a way that every other body will be
excluded from it; which can be perceived either by tough, or
by sight, or by hearing, or by taste, or by smell: which can
be moved in many ways not, in truth, by itself, but by
something which is foreign to it, by which it is touched [and
from which it receives impressions]: for to have the power of
self-movement, as also of feeling or of thinking, I did not
consider to appertain to the nature of body: on the contrary,
I was rather astonished to find that faculties similar to them
existed in some bodies.
But what am I, now that I suppose that there is a certain
genius which is extremely powerful, and, if I may say so,
malicious, who employs all his powers in deceiving me? Can I
affirm that I possess the least of all those things which I
have just said pertain to the nature of body? I pause to
consider, I revolve all these things in my mind, and I find
none of which I can say that it pertains to me.
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