Preview

Descartes Proof for the Existence of God Essay Example

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1572 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Descartes Proof for the Existence of God Essay Example
Descartes Proof for the Existence of God

The purpose of my essay will be to examine Descartes' argument for the existence of God. First, I will review Descartes' proof for the existence of God. Then I will examine the reasons that Descartes has for proving God's existence. I will also discuss some consequences that appear as a result of God's existence. Finally, I will point out some complications and problems that exist within the proof. The basic problem with most religions in the world has always been that they presuppose faith; that is one cannot be reasoned into believing in a religion, if such was not the case then we would have seen a huge migration to one religion or another. In any given religion, the main proof of God's existence is the fact that scriptures -- whichever ones they may be -- inform us of his existence and his powers. Then again, we only believe in these scriptures because we think that they come from God. Generally saying, this is a circular argument that cannot be used as a proof. We would all like to believe that we believe in God and our given religion because of faith. But what is faith? And how can a Jew, a Christian or a Muslim all have the same certainty about their given religions without being in any doubt of their minds as to the certainty of their religions and faith. Descartes set out to build a set of arguments designed to prove God's existence. On those, he constructed all of his other arguments. His goal in proving God's existence was dual; he wanted to build ground to base his arguments on, that is that he exists ...etc. That goal will not be discussed in too much depth in this paper. It is his other goal to prove beyond a doubt God's existence to all non-believers. Descartes starts by rejecting all his beliefs, so that he would not be misleaded by any misconceptions from reaching the truth. He notices that by doubting all of his previous ideas he is thinking in. Descartes determines that in

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Descartes later reformulated the ontological argument, who sought to prove the existence of God through reason alone. He stated that he exists, and in his mind he has the concept of a perfect being, and as an imperfect being, he could not have conjured up the idea of a perfect being, therefore this idea must have originated from the perfect being itself, and this perfect being must exist in order to be perfect, consequently a perfect being exists. He also stated that the idea of God is the idea of a perfect being, and a supremely perfect being has all perfections, existence is perfection, a supremely perfect being must have existence, therefore it is impossible to think of God as not existing, hence God exists.…

    • 455 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    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…

    • 1006 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Descartes discovered his first indubitable truth is that he, himself, did exist. He used his methods of doubt to discount anything he thought he knew previously. He doubted everything his senses had told him because, according to Descartes, what he may have seen or heard might not necessarily be real. He also was not convinced that what he did in his waking life could have been while he was dreaming and, therefore, might also be false. By discarding everything based on the senses, mental imagery and by questioning the existence of God, he was able to start with a blank slate on which to prove his idea. His method of inquiry was knowledge based on certainty. Once he was satisfied that it was certain beyond any doubt, he came to his first indubitable truth, that he existed.…

    • 601 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Why is God so important to Descartes’ philosophical project in the Meditations? Answer with reference to Descartes’ attempts to prove the existence of God in Meditation 3.…

    • 1278 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The essence of the main argument in the fourth Meditation of Descartes is to establish that there is a difference between God: his creator and himself, and how this difference does not taint the infinite abilities of God. Descartes commences his argument by first establishing his idea of being a thinking being. In his previous book, The Discourse on Method and Meditations on First Philosophy he sates,…

    • 739 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Descartes sets out on a mission to guarantee that every one of his beliefs is certain without any doubt. He considers that he should free himself of all false learning keeping in mind the end goal is to acquire any genuine information. Descartes chooses to question all that he has learned from truth in the past. He will depend on his thinking capacity to reconstruct his own particular knowledge, starting with a foundation of things which he is most sure about. Descartes declines to acknowledge anything that has any hint of doubt. His purpose behind doing such is because he genuinely trusts this is the best way to find the practical presence of something that cannot be questioned. Descartes uses a strategy in his endeavor to obtain information.…

    • 650 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Descartes talked about the essence of material things and prove that God exists again. Descartes said that it is obvious that whatever is true is something, and he have already demonstrated at some length that all that he know clearly is…

    • 773 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The fact that Descartes is even considering the mere question of his own existence just proves that he indeed exists and that is certain. Further, he argues that we are essentially thinking things (res cogitans) that can know our minds clearly and distinctly. Descartes pitches a tent for himself firmly in the rationalist camp, as opposed to the empiricist camp. He constantly emphasizes that the clear and distinct perceptions of the intellect are the only sure means of securing knowledge, and ultimately concludes that the senses are not designed to give us knowledge at all, but are rather meant to help us move through the world in a very practical…

    • 894 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Descartes v Hume

    • 1543 Words
    • 7 Pages

    In Meditation I, Descartes reflects on his past beliefs and realizes how so much that he once believed to be true was actually false. To separate what is truth from fiction; Descartes decided to completely reject anything which he can doubt at all. He wrote, “If I am able to find in each some reason to doubt, this will suffice to justify my rejecting the whole” (Descartes 4). The belief that inspired this method was that genuine truth was clear and distinct and that any doubt whatsoever could not provide absolute certainty. In essence, if any component of something was in the very least questionable, then any conclusion drawn from it would be at the most questionable. This method led Descartes to doubt practically everything he once believed, especially knowledge attained through the senses. He wrote, “All that up to the present time I have accepted as most true and…

    • 1543 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Spinoza vs Descartes on God

    • 3697 Words
    • 15 Pages

    The concept of God is central to the development of Cartesian and Spinozan philosophy. Although both philosophers employ an ontological argument for the existence and necessity of God the specific nature of God differs greatly with each account. While Descartes suggests a Judeo-Christian concept of God, Spinoza argues a more monistic deity similar to that of the Hindu tradition. The most significant difference however, lies within the basis and structure of each argument itself. Considered from an analytical standpoint through the lens of Gotlobb Frege, Descartes' proof of God possesses both sense and reference and is therefore capable of expressing the truth. Spinoza's argument however, employs sense alone, thus rendering it neither true nor false but quite literally meaningless. A detailed analysis of Descartes' Meditations of First Philosophy in conjunction with Spinoza's Ethics will help elucidate these claims.…

    • 3697 Words
    • 15 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Cartesian Circle

    • 911 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Descartes’ “Cartesian Circle” has come under fire from countless philosophers because it supposedly commits a logical fallacy with its circular reasoning. In his second Meditation, Descartes attempts to prove the existence of God. He states that clear and distinct perception leads to knowledge, and that God’s existence is apparent and obvious because of things we have come to perceive as knowledge. Furthermore, he asserts that we cannot turn these perceptions into knowledge without the assurance that God exists. Essentially, Descartes claims that God is a necessary condition for knowledge, which in turn requires the existence of God. This circular logic presents a problematic scenario similar to the “chicken or the egg?” debate and has left philosophers pondering its legitimacy for decades.…

    • 911 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Firstly, Descartes in the third meditation sets out to prove that God does indeed exist. To begin with, he considered that the source of an idea must be as real as the idea itself. He thought that since his idea of God had overwhelmingly unlimited content, then the one who caused the idea must be infinite and that it must be god, and thus asserted that what is more perfect cannot arise from what is imperfect. In his conclusion, Descartes says that God is a substance that is omnipotent, omniscient, independent and infinite. He argued that if the objective reality of an idea could not come from him, then it could have come from something else. The basis for the arguments he put forward lies in the…

    • 1107 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Descartes also states that this argument isn’t strong enough to prove that God exists. Because he has been constantly revising his believes he says that at this point he can easily tell the difference between essence and existence. After he points that out he explains that he believes that God could be separated from the existence but not from his essence. Then he contradicts himself saying that not existing would be prove of him not being perfect thus he had to exist. After that Descartes starts lacking of confidence that God exists. He thinks that he is giving some attributions, being perfect; to a creature that he doesn’t even know if exists. He thinks that he is just matching two things that he knows to make something new, something that…

    • 193 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Thomas Aquinas is a prominent figure for someone who believes, preaches, and teaches about Gods existence. Aquinas made what is known to be called the Summa Theologica. This piece of writing is known to talk about the relationship between God and man along with questions and articles to show that God truly exists. Part one, question number two in the Summa talks about the existence of God. In this section of Aquinas’ writing, he gives three articles which are questions to support his claim on the topic. The article contains objections to each question and Aquinas thus responds to it show what he thinks of them. This also includes Aquinas’ five proofs for the existence of God.…

    • 2472 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout the many Meditations, multiple concepts are introduced in order to prove this seemingly complex notion. A principle that Descartes often employed and of great interest to me is that nothing can come from nothing and provides an excellent basis for the many ideas surrounding substance dualism. Descartes concluded that because no perfect idea can be created by something imperfect, the idea that an indefinitely perfect God exists must have been place in us by a perfect God.…

    • 550 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays