Descartes and the Existence of God Essay - 1140 Words

Descartes and the Existence of God Once Descartes has realized that he can know with certainty that â€Å"I exist† is true, he continues to build on his foundation of truths. The truth about the nature of God, proof of God’s existence, and the nature of corporeal objects are considered, among others, after Descartes proves his existence. Descartes’ principal task in the Meditations was to devise a system that would bring him to the truth. He wanted to build a foundation from which all further philosophical inquiry could be built. It was essential that his beliefs were sound. If any one of them were at all in doubt, then it put the credibility of the whole structure of knowledge in jeopardy. I will discuss a few of the topics Descartes†¦show more content†¦If I can coherently imagine a unicorn without a horn on its forehead, then having a horn would not be essential to being a unicorn; for if it were, I could not have imagined it. When Descartes claims to know â€Å"I am†¦ only a thinking being,† what he says he knows is an abstract truth about his nature. And so this piece of knowledge is similar to almost all of the other things which he will subsequently find that it knows: it is a necessary truth regarding a certain kind of thing’s having a particular nature or essence. I do not find it plausible that propositions concerning my own mental state are incorrigible to me. I do believe, however, that it is possible to make mistakes about my own beliefs and desires. I might falsely believe that I like the taste of beer, when really I hate it, but pretend to everyone including myself that I like it, so I can be one of the crowd at a party. Another example would be if my roommate knew that her boyfriend was cheating on her after finding a bra in his bed but chose to ignore it, she somehow pretends to herself that he is faithful; but in fact she believes he might not be. She believes he is faithful. He is not faithful. His faithfulness is not incorrigible. Descartes’ realization that he exists also leads to his proof of how he is able to be certain about his conclusions. DescartesShow MoreRelatedDescartes and the Existence of God751 Words   |  3 Pagesï » ¿Descartes: The existence of God Over the course of his treatise Discourse on the Method, the philosopher Rene Descartes attempts to refute radical skepticism, or the idea that we can know nothing with the mind, because what we consider reality may simply be a delusion or a dream. Descartes begins, however, by taking a posture of doubting everything, and then attempting to discern what could be known for certain. Rather than attempting to affirm his existence, I thought that a procedure exactlyRead MoreDescartes : The Existence Of God1682 Words   |  7 Pages Descartes’ attempt to prove the existence of God begins with the Trademark argument. He reasons that by having an idea of an infinite being with a certain degree of â€Å"objective reality†, â€Å"there must be at least as much reality in the efficient and total cause in the effect of that cause† (40). Descartes’ idea of God has more objective reality of any of his ideas. Therefore, God must be the cause of his idea as a resul t of his existence. In what follows I will explain these terms and why theRead More Descartes Existence Of God Essay588 Words   |  3 Pages The existence of God has been a question since the idea of God was conceived. Descartes tries to prove Gods existence, to disprove his Evil demon theory, and to show that there is without a doubt something external to ones own existence. He is looking for a definite certainty, a foundation for which he can base all of his beliefs and know for a fact that they are true. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Descartes overall project is to find a definite certainty on which he can base all his knowledgeRead MoreDescartes Proof Of The Existence Of God1609 Words   |  7 PagesOne of the most important ideas upon which Descartes’s proof of the existence of God rests is that rational minds face constraints. While God is the absolute infinite, humans and other beings exist with limitations on their actions. One of these limitations is human intellect, which Descartes names as one component of the cause of our tendency toward error as humans. The finite nature of human intellect, he argues, combines with an infinite will which causes us to seek an understanding of phenomenaRead MoreDescartes Argument For God s Existence Of God Essay1103 Words   |  5 Pagespaper, I offer a reconstruction of Descartes argument for God’s existence in the Third Meditation. Descartes tries to prove the existence of God with an argument that proceeds from the clear and di stinct idea of an infinite being to the existence of himself. He believes that his clear and distinct idea of an infinite being with infinite â€Å"objective reality† leads to the occurrence of the â€Å"Special Causal Principle†. I will start by discussing and analyzing Descartes clear and distinct idea of an infiniteRead MoreDescartes Fourth Meditation On The Existence Of God1382 Words   |  6 PagesIn Descartes’ Fifth Meditation, he delivers an argument that has come to be known as the Ontological Argument. It is here that Descartes argues for the existence of God, through a priori reasoning. In order to understand both the strengths and weakness of this argument, I will first break it down into its main premises. From here, I will argue that despite the simplicity and use of reasoning in the argument, the weaknesses outweigh the strengths, and ultimately that the argument fails. To allow forRead MoreDescartes Second Argument For The Existence Of God1642 Words   |  7 PagesPaper: Descartes’ Second Argument for the Existence of God As with almost all of Descartes inquiries the roots of his second argument for the existence of God begin with his desire to build a foundation of knowledge that he can clearly and distinctly perceive. At the beginning of the third meditation Descartes once again recollects the things that he knows with certainty. The problem arises when he attempts to clearly and distinctly understand truths of arithmetic and geometry. Descartes has enoughRead MoreDescartes s Meditations On The Existence Of God929 Words   |  4 PagesDescartes sets out in his meditations to prove that something exists beyond any doubt. He determines that the only way to prove anything outside of his mind is to prove the existence of his idea of God. The ideas that come from his process are interesting, but he doesn’t prove the existence of God is undeniable. Several arguments Descartes uses to claim God exists, don’t hold up to what he has proved up to that point in his meditations. The first being his use of the causal principle on which theRead MoreDescartes Argument for the Existence of God Essay1167 Words   |  5 Pages Descartes employs what is known as an ontological argument to prove the existence of God. Saint Anselm who lived during the 11th century first formulated this type of argument. Since then it has proved popular with many philosophers including Rene` Descartes. Even though ontological arguments have lost popularity with modern philosophers there has been some recent attempts to revive them. Descartes formulation is regarded as being one of the best because it is straight forward and relativelyRead 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