but to a lesser extent than complete substances; and, finally, if there is an infinite and independent substance, it is more of a thing than a finite and dependent substance. All this is completely self-evident." To understand Descartes’ Trademark Argument it is not necessary to fully understand the underlying Aristotelian metaphysics but it is necessary to know that an infinite substance has the most reality and more reality than a finite substance, which in turn has more reality than a mode. A substance is something that exists independently. The only thing that truly exists independently is an infinite substance for it doesn't rely on anything else for its existence. In this context ‘infinite substance’ means ‘God’. A finite substance can exist independently other than its reliance on an infinite substance. ‘Substance’ does not imply ‘physical substance’ — for Descartes the body is one substance but the mind is also a substance. A ‘mode’ is “a way or manner in which something occurs or is experienced, expressed, or done.” In this scheme, a substance (e.g. a mind) will have an attribute (thought) and the mode might be willing or having an idea. The degree of reality is related to the way in which something is dependent—“Modes are logically dependent on substance; they ‘inhere in it as subject.’... Created substances are not logically, but causally, dependent on God. They do not inhere in God as subject, but are effects of God as creator.” To avoid confusion, it is important to note that the degree of reality is not related to size—a bowling ball does not have more reality than a table tennis ball; a forest fire does not have more reality than a candle flame. Formal reality and Objective reality Descartes says, ‘Formal reality’ is roughly what we mean by ‘actually existing.’ ‘Objective reality’ does not mean objective as opposed to subjective but is more like the object of one's thoughts irrespective of whether or not it actually exists. Cottingham says that ‘objective reality’ is the ‘representational content of an idea’. Hatfield says “think of an “object” of desire – a championship for your favorite sports team, say. It may not now exist, and it need never have existed. In Descartes’ terminology, what has “objective reality” is something contained in the subject's mental state and so may even be called “subjective” in present-day terms.” Crucial to Descartes argument is the way in