The Existence of God According to Descartes Essays

Once Descartes has proved his existence by way of the Cogito argument, and has determined what it is that belongs to his essence of being a thinking thing, he must move to examining questions about the world around him. However, before doing this, he thinks it better to examine the question of the existence of God. If he can prove that he was created by a perfectly benevolent creator, then his innate ideas must carry some semblance of truth, as God is not a deceiver and has placed these ideas in Descartes. Knowledge of God will allow the possibility of achieving understanding of the fundamental principles of the universe.1 Descartes offers two arguments for the existence of God. The first, considered in Meditation Three, is known as†¦show more content†¦In the Principles of Philosophy, Descartes puts forward the example of a person who has the idea of a highly sophisticated and intricate machine; all the intricacy that is contained in the idea that the person has must be reflected in the source of that idea, whether it be a skilled designer, or the imagination of the person themselves. Taking these three premises, Descartes arrives at the existence of God as follows: as I have an idea of a perfect being, it must contain in reality all the features that are contained merely objectively in my idea. Descartes himself cannot be the cause of the idea, as he has acknowledged that he is imperfect and ignorant of many things. Neither can the idea have come from an amalgamation of various other ideas that he has, for there would have to be an infinite regress that would in any event trace back to an original cause of the idea, which will contain formally all the perfection present only objectively in Descartes idea. Hence, the ultimate cause of Descartes idea of God must possess all the attributes that Descartes perceives it to have, and therefore it can be concluded that God necessarily exists. The Causal Adequacy Feature is open to counterexamples. Its weakness is that it suggests that there can be no cases of objects being greater than the sum of their parts. For example, the strength inherent in a bridge must, according to Descartes, be contained in the girders and rivets that make it up. IfShow MoreRelatedOntological Arguments for the Existence of God Essay1603 Words   |  7 PagesIn the fifth Meditation, Descartes presents his second argument for the existence of God. Descartes holds that existence is perfection and so, it can be a predicate for God. I will first explain what is the ontological argument for the existence of God. Next, I will discuss why Descartes decides to bring God into His method of philosophy. I will then try to argue that existence is a perfection and that as a predicate for God, existence reveal certain true about God. Ontological argument tries toRead MoreThe Role of God in Descartes Epistemology1356 Words   |  5 Pages The presence of God, and more so the role god plays in our lives, has forever troubled philosophers. Some completely neglect the existence of god, others toy with the idea, and some use religion as the basis of their epistemology. Throughout this essay, I aim to critically examine the role of God in Descartes’ epistemology. Renà © Descartes’ epistemological contribution to western philosophy attempted to inaugurate a coherent method of questioning whereby knowledge of the world is attained independentlyRead MoreDescartes Meditations On First Philosophy1712 Words   |  7 PagesDescartes’ Meditations on First Philosophy (1641) contains six Meditations. In the first two of these Descartes addresses doubt and certainty. By the end of the second Meditation Descartes establishes the possibility of certainty by concluding that he is a â€Å"thinking thing† and that this is beyond doubt. Having established the possibility of certainty, Descartes attempts to pr ove the existence of God. The argument he presents in the Third Meditation for the existence of God has been nicknamed theRead MoreDescartes Belief in God Essay1503 Words   |  7 PagesDescartes and God In his groundbreaking work, Meditations on First Philosophy, the French philosopher Rene Descartes lays the groundwork for many philosophical principles by attempting to â€Å"establish a bold and lasting knowledge† (171)1. The foundations for knowledge Descartes established would go on to influence a plethora of other philosophers and philosophical works. Descartes argues in his meditations first from the point of view of complete skepticism, using skepticism as a tool in order toRead MoreDescartes: Proofs of God/Deception and Error Essay1093 Words   |  5 PagesDescartes: Proofs of God/Deception and Error Instructions: First: Analyze and evaluate the two proofs of Gods existence. How are they different? Is one more convincing than the other? Why did Descartes think he needed two proofs? Do they do different work for him? And secondly: Does Descartes give a satisfactory account of human error, given a perfect and divine creator? Are Descartes arguments convincing, or does it still seem unnecessary and less than perfect that God created us withRead MoreAnalyzing the Surprise Ending in Descartes Discourse on the Method and the Meditations1051 Words   |  4 PagesSurprise Ending in Descartes In the book Discourses on the Method and the Meditations, author Rene Descartes famously questions the existence of humanity. His most famous quotation, the one for whom he is most remembered is I think therefore I am (Descartes 11). According to this idea, so long as a being has the ability to think then they existed. Animals have brains and therefore they must exist. In order to truly, exist, to be a thinking entity, a person or organism must utilize the abilityRead MoreEssay on Descartes Meditations1018 Words   |  5 PagesDescartes Meditations Descartes meditations are created in pursuit of certainty, or true knowledge. He cannot assume that what he has learned is necessarily true, because he is unsure of the accuracy of its initial source. In order to purge himself of all information that is possibly wrong, he subjects his knowledge to methodic doubt. This results in a (theoretical) doubt of everything he knows. Anything, he reasons, that can sustain such serious doubt must be unquestionable truth, andRead MoreDescartes Theory Of Reasoning1184 Words   |  5 Pagesexplaining Antoine Arnauld’s objection to Descartes’ circular reasoning, I will be presenting a response given by Descartes. Then I will attempt to consider, on behalf of Arnauld, if the response is of adequacy, then I shall decide which view offers the best account. I suspect, however, that no matter what kind of response Descartes is to give, nothing will be able to save him from the torment of the so called ‘Cartesian circle’ . In objection to Descartes’ reasoning behind his attempt to establishRead MoreThe Ontological Argument For The Existence Of God1509 Words   |  7 Pages Descartes’ ontological argument is an echo of the original ontological argument for the existence of God as proposed by St. Anselm in the 11th century. To illustrate the background of the ontological argument, Anselm’s argument works within a distinct framework of ontology that posits the existence of God as necessity by virtue of its definition. In other words, for the mind to conceive of an infinite, perfect God, ultimately implies that there must indeed be a perfect God that embodies existenceRead MoreDescartes Ontological Argument For The Existence Of God1302 Words   |  6 Pages10/30/2014 Descartes’ Ontological Argument for the Existence of God The Ontological Argument for the existence of God is an a priori argument that aims to demonstrate that God’s real-world existence follows necessarily from the concept of God. In Meditation V of Discourse on Methods and Meditations on First Philosophy, Descartes presents his version of the Ontological Argument for the existence of God. In this essay, I will argue that this argument fails because necessary existence for a concept