Trademark Argument Of René Descartes Meditations On First Philosophy
The Trademark Argument
In Meditations on First Philosophy, René Descartes sought metaphysical certainty. Along with finding metaphysical certainty, Descartes also wanted to defeat the view of skeptics, who argued and strongly held the notion that knowledge is impossible. He questioned where beliefs came from and how they were acquired. In the First Meditation, he casts all of his knowledge into doubt. In the Second Meditation, he comes to the strong conclusion of the cogito. “As long as I am thinking, I cannot help but to exist.” This discovery gave Descartes grounds to search for other metaphysical truths. He then continues onto his Third Meditation where he attempts to prove the existence of God. The reason why Descartes sought to prove …show more content…
149ff). The concept of “the self”, or better known as the “cogito”, is crucial in Descartes’ pursuit in proving the existence of God. The cogito is undoubtable and self-evidently true because it is an instance of thought. What proves your existence is that moment where you are engaged in thought. This allows one to go through every day life without having doubts about one’s own existence. If he had not reached the metaphysical certainty of the self, it is likely that he would not be able to find any metaphysical certainty at all, including that of God’s existence. From this, Descartes then moves on to go about proving the existence of an omnipotent, omnibenevolent, infinite, omniscient God. Before discussing Descartes’s proof of God’s existence, it is important to first discuss ideas, substances, and their realities. According to Descartes, ideas are formed in the human mind in three ways. Ideas are either experienced or perceived in the world, they have been created or invented, or they have been derived from one’s own nature. Being derived from one’s own nature means that it is innate, originating in the mind. Before he goes further into it, he states “Now manifest by the natural light that there must be as much in the efficient and total cause as in the effect of that
In Meditations on First Philosophy, René Descartes sought metaphysical certainty. Along with finding metaphysical certainty, Descartes also wanted to defeat the view of skeptics, who argued and strongly held the notion that knowledge is impossible. He questioned where beliefs came from and how they were acquired. In the First Meditation, he casts all of his knowledge into doubt. In the Second Meditation, he comes to the strong conclusion of the cogito. “As long as I am thinking, I cannot help but to exist.” This discovery gave Descartes grounds to search for other metaphysical truths. He then continues onto his Third Meditation where he attempts to prove the existence of God. The reason why Descartes sought to prove …show more content…
149ff). The concept of “the self”, or better known as the “cogito”, is crucial in Descartes’ pursuit in proving the existence of God. The cogito is undoubtable and self-evidently true because it is an instance of thought. What proves your existence is that moment where you are engaged in thought. This allows one to go through every day life without having doubts about one’s own existence. If he had not reached the metaphysical certainty of the self, it is likely that he would not be able to find any metaphysical certainty at all, including that of God’s existence. From this, Descartes then moves on to go about proving the existence of an omnipotent, omnibenevolent, infinite, omniscient God. Before discussing Descartes’s proof of God’s existence, it is important to first discuss ideas, substances, and their realities. According to Descartes, ideas are formed in the human mind in three ways. Ideas are either experienced or perceived in the world, they have been created or invented, or they have been derived from one’s own nature. Being derived from one’s own nature means that it is innate, originating in the mind. Before he goes further into it, he states “Now manifest by the natural light that there must be as much in the efficient and total cause as in the effect of that