 Recall that Descartes’ method requires only a justification-defeating doubt, not a belief-defeating doubt. To lack perfect knowledge of my being awake, I need not give up my belief that I’m awake; nor need that belief be false – I might, in fact, be awake. The Now Dreaming Doubt does its epistemic damage so long as it undermines my reasons for believing I’m awake. And at this stage of the Meditations, Descartes thinks that it does: “there are never any sure signs by means of which being awake can be distinguished from being asleep” (Med. 1, AT 7:19, CSM 2:13).