Descartes’ compatibility between his stance on distinction between essence and existence and his inference of his existence

In the Fifth Meditations, Descartes claims that he is accustomed to "distinguish between essence and existence” in created things (AT VII 66), which include himself. This means that the existence of a substance other than God is not necessarily inferred from an essence. However, in the Second Meditations, Descartes deduces his existence from his essence: the action of thinking (AT VII 25). This paper aims to discuss the seemingly incompatible claims and argue for a solution to the controversy. In the first section, I will further introduce the contradiction. In the second section, I will defend Descartes’ inference of his existence from his perspective, and try to seek the implications of the defense. In the third section, I will consolidate a crucial claim made in section two. By the end of the third section, I shall prove that both Descartes and triangles (as true things) exist while there is compatibility within the controversy