Descartes Argument For The Existence Of God

Micaela Ceraso
PHIL 101
Professor Papa
December 9th 2014
Topic 3: The Certainty that God Is
After reading the two paragraphs written by scholars I have come to three different conclusions. The author of the first argument claims that God does in fact exist and he is also infinite. The author of the second argument claims that humans are not capable of comprehending the idea of infinite, therefore we cannot argue that God is infinite or that he exists at all. Finally, Descartes claims that by The Method of Doubt, God is the one idea that cannot be doubted. Therefore, the disputed question in these three arguments is the existence of God and the idea of infinite.
Descartes and the first author both seem to dispute the argument made by the
second author; claiming that humans are not capable of comprehending the idea of infinite. According to Descartes, the concept of infinite cannot come from a finite mind itself therefore it must come from the infinity itself, also known as God. I think that the claim made by the second author is false because if we as humans knew what infinite was, then in fact the question of God would no longer exist. I think the Second author makes a great argument in that, how are we supposed to believe in something that we will never get to fully get to understand? God and infinity are something that as humans we will never get to understand because we are not either things, so therefore we must use the knowledge that we know to determine what is real and what is only in our minds. Referring to the idea of God, Descartes states that “I could not have such an idea, if there were no infinitely perfect being outside of me” meaning that if God only existed in our minds that the question of an infinite being would not at all be in question. In the book, Descartes states that he sees infinite as a “real idea,” not a negation of what is finite. As humans we cannot create the idea of an infinite being; therefore it must have be implanted into our minds from an infinite being themselves. This infinite being; being God. There is more reality in infinite substances than in finite substances. As a finite human we cannot comprehend the idea of infinite because we do not know the qualities that it possesses.
Descartes claims that God is the one thing in his life that he cannot doubt. He has used his Method of Doubt on many different topics and has be able to prove all of his ideas wrong that is except for his doubt towards God. In The Mediation, Descartes uses two different proofs to determine the existence of God himself. The first thing he proves is that, there has to be a perfect being formally existing in which the idea of a perfect being derives. A human could have created the ideas of all substances besides that of God. He uses the two following statement to prove the validity of his statement. One, as proven by evidence, humans are not perfect. Second, that we, humans, have a distinct idea of what perfect in fact should be, God. In his second proof, Descartes states that first, whoever in fact created humans, could not have been a human themselves, because then who wouldn’t in fact create everyone to be perfect. Secondly, that again, proven by evidence, humans are not perfect. And lastly that an imperfect being could not have been created from anything other than a perfect being. Concluding that a perfect being, such as god, would’ve had to created him. Descartes says “a substance that is infinite, eternal, immutable, and supremely powerful and which is created both myself and everything else.” Meaning that he knows himself to be a very imperfect being, perishable and finite and yet in his mind he still has the concept of an infinite being, eternal and immortal, perfect in every way. It is impossible that anything like us should be able to create something greater than ourselves out of our resources; therefore this perfect being must exist and must have implanted in our minds an awareness of it.
` In the cogito, awareness of self, of thinking, and of existence are combined in a way that results in an intuitive grasp of a truth that cannot be doubted.
Cognito are unusually clear and distinct, therefore ideas may be considered objectively, as a mental representation of the fact that infinite beings really do exist. The thought of God is a subject that from the time of Descartes to now is constantly being disputed time and time again. Congito shows that even when such a big question, the existence of god, is unclear and not too distinct, that this only makes it more of a reason to believe it’s real. The connections among our ideas prove that there are truths only when they correspond to the way the world really is. But it is not obvious that our clear and distinct ideas do correspond with the reality of things, since we suppose that there may be an omnipotent being; God. In some measures, the reliability of our ideas may depend on the source from where they are derived from. Descartes states that there are only three places in which these ideas can come from. The ideas must enter the mind from the outside world, they must be manufactured in the mind itself, or God must have inscribed these ideas into our heads. Descartes concludes that the only possible reasoning would be that God has placed these ideas into our head. As proven earlier, the idea of God could not enter one’s mind though the outside world, on earth, there is no real proof that shows that God in fact
does exist. There are stories of acts God, and the wonders of what he did but he is not here, standing in front of us to prove his existence. Also, it is known by Descartes that God does not live within the human soul, again he states “I could not have such an idea, if there were no infinitely perfect being outside of me” meaning that if he lived within us, we would not be questioning the idea of God being infinite because we are finite humans, and he could not live forever in someone who is only finite.
In conclusion Descartes simple states that every idea must be caused, and the cause must be as real as the idea.
If I have any idea of which I cannot be the cause, then something besides me must exist. He also states that all ideas of material reality could have their origin within me. But the idea of God, an infinite and perfect being, could not have originated from within me, since I am finite and imperfect. Lastly he states that I have an idea of God, and it can only have been caused by God. The purpose of this is, ultimately, to prove that the idea of God is present in his mind as an innate idea. Finally, having proved this, Descartes uses what has come to be called the trademark argument, attempting to show that the presence of the idea of God in his mind is equivalent to the trademark (or signature) left on an object created by a craftsman. Descartes believes the all of the above topics lead to the understanding of the omnipotent being also known as the all-knowing
God.