Rene Descartes' overall objective in publicizing "Discourse of Method" is to developing
a new system of knowledge that is free of prior prejudices for establishing the truth of
things. In Part 4 of the book he explains the philosophical basing (the meditations) for
establishing the new system. These meditations were based on the epistemological
theory of rationalism: that is if someone truly knows something then they could not
possibly be mistaken. He goes on to provide solid argument for his ideas. In Meditations
he comes to term with three certainties: the existence of the mind as the thing that thinks,
the body as an extension, and God as the supreme being. He attests that he came to these
conclusions by doubling all that had been taught to him in his formal education, and all
he received through the senses. In the "Discourse of Method" he states his first
uncertainty when he says, " I found myself embarrassed with so many doubts and errors
that it seemed to me that the effort to instruct myself had no effect other than the
increasing discovery of my ignorance". He has difficulty embracing the diverse, and
sometimes hypocrtical, ideas that he encountered in his studies. He thought all of his
confusions and indeterminate ideas were caused by the senses. Therefore, he first
jettisons any information, knowledge or truths that are based on his senses. Here, he
applies the "Dream Argument, " (32) where he states that based on senses alone, there is
no definite way of proving that you are dreaming or that you are awake. After all,
derams are indistinguishable from reality because during a dram, a person is unaware that
he is dreaming. In fact, no sing...
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...d, which is of an infinite being,
cannot arise from a mortal, a finite being. The idea of infinite must therefore be due to
the existence of an infinite, which must have placed this idea in him. Thus,
proving his theory of the existence of God. From the nature of the perfection that God
is, Decartes comes to conclusion that God is the ultimate causeless cause. Decartes holds that the innate idea of God that rises in the mind is sufficient proof of God's having made man in His own image. God's existence is the precondition of the existence of all other things, including the individual souls, and also of His idea in the human mind. Since there cannot be an idea of God without the existence of God. God is incorporeal, intelligence, all-knowing, good and just. He is omnipotent, eternal. He has no changes, no modes of attribute, no modifications.
Premise 1: Sometimes when you are dreaming, you cannot tell whether or not you are dreaming.
In this paper, I will explain how Descartes uses the existence of himself to prove the existence of God. The “idea of God is in my mind” is based on “I think, therefore I am”, so there is a question arises: “do I derive my existence? Why, from myself, or from my parents, or from whatever other things there are that are less perfect than God. For nothing more perfect than God, or even as perfect as God, can be thought or imagined.” (Descartes 32, 48) Descartes investigates his reasons to show that he, his parents and other causes cannot cause the existence of himself.
Any truth that can exist in one can exist in the other. Because of this, there is no definite way to tell if an experience is dreamt or not. The arguments against this are purely speculative, based on personal experiences, and perhaps experiences of others, but that is not enough. Just because one person may not feel pain during a dream, signifying some sort of differentiation between the two states, does not mean another person doesn’t. Because all the evidence against this argument are purely speculative and circumstantial, it proves that we cannot prove consciousness at any given moment with Cartesian certainty. A waking state does exist, however, our ability to differentiate it from a sleeping state is impossible, leading to confusion about experiences. Having Cartesian certainty about whether or not we are dreaming at any given moment allows us to evaluate all the other aspects that might be skewed our findings. Because we may be asleep at any moment, who is to say our knowledge and experiences aren’t all dreamed? The brain, although a complex mechanism, is not complex to come up with the ideas that we have experienced within them. We may form new ideas based on our experiences, but the basis of it must have been experienced at one point or another. Our brain’s need reference for knowledge, and for us to know absolute truths, we need to understand that some truths may not be as
The question of God’s existence has been debated through the history of man, with every philosopher from Socrates to Immanuel Kant weighing in on the debate. So great has this topic become that numerous proofs have been invented and utilized to prove or disprove God’s existence. Yet no answer still has been reached, leaving me to wonder if any answer at all is possible. So I will try in this paper to see if it is possible to philosophically prove God’s existence.
This paper is intended to explain and evaluate Descartes' proof for the existence of god in Meditation Three. It shall show the weaknesses in the proof, but also give credit to the strengths in his proof. It will give a background of what Descartes has already accepted as what he truly knows. The paper will also state Descartes two major points for the existence of God and why the points can easily be proven false. The paper will also show that if a God does exist that God can in fact be an evil deceiver. The paper will also show that the idea of a perfect being cannot be conceived by an imperfect being.
Descartes argues that we can know the external world because of God, and God is not a deceiver. Descartes’ core foundation for understanding what is important comes from three points: our thoughts about the world and the things in it could be deceptive, our power of reasoning has found ideas that are indubitable, and certainty come by way of reasoning. Once we have a certainty of God, and ourselves then we are easily able to distinguish reality from dreams, and so on. God created us and gave us reason, which tells us that our ideas of the external world come from God. God has directly provided us with the idea of the external world. The concept of existence, the self, and doubt could not have existed on its own; therefore they had to be created by someone to have put them in our mind. That creator is God, who is omnipotent and perfect. God is not a deceiver to me; God is good, so therefore what I perceive really does exist. God without existence is like a mountain without a valley. A valley does not exist if there is no mountain, and vice versa a mountain is not a mountain with out a valley. We cannot believe or think of God without existence. We know the idea of God, and that idea inevitably contains his existence. My thought on god is clear and distinct that he is existent. Descartes’ now has ‘rebuilt’ the world, solely because of his power and reasoning. Descartes’ is only able...
The second meditation starts out by questioning the existence of him. He uses Archimedes famous saying “he could shift the entire earth given one immovable point”. Because, he can doubt anything and everything then he has to find a point of absolute certainty, so he can change his foundations. He wants to find out one thing that is certain and true. So, he began to question his very own existence. He questions the intention of god so, is god truly benevolent or is he a trickster. Then he goes on to think that he exists because he thinks he is the only thing that is thinking, because the ideas are being implanted, something and
However, to his surprise, Elizabeth is not yet convinced. She says that “despite what explanation Descartes has given so far, she still does not understand the manner in which the soul moves the body” (Margaret A.: p21). Therefore, it is clear that Descartes does not give a satisfactory answer to Elizabeth regarding the union between the body and the soul. In this regard, it is understandable why Elizabeth gets upset when she fails to get the answer she needs. Ultimately, the question is not answered and Descartes advises Elizabeth not to pay much attention to the meditation in order to explain the union of the body and soul.
Ideas, innovations, and inventions are all created from brilliant minds. Than how did these ideas come to be? Descartes believes that God is the cause of new innovations adding, therefore God instilled in us the idea of his existence. Explaining, in order for us to draw an idea from a presumption or thought, than an object must have been derived not by us but rather God. An example of his presumption of the existence of God would be the fact that if one cannot imagine a bookshelf without books. Whether one exists or not, it is true than that they cannot be separated from each other. Descartes follows by stating that “he cannot conceive God without existence, existence is inseparable from him.”
... God alone remains; and, given the truth of the principle that whatever exists has a cause, it follows, Descartes declares, that God exists we must of necessity conclude from the fact alone that I exist, or that the idea of a supremely perfect – that is of God – is in me, that the proof of God’s existence is grounded in the highest evidence” Descartes concludes that God must be the cause of him, and that God innately implanted the idea of infinite perfection in him.
He concludes he did not create the idea of God. A finite being is incapable of creating an idea of an infinite possibility. Therefore, God must have created the idea already in him when he was created. Concluding that God exists. He also touches upon the idea in which he resolves that it cannot be a deceiver.
A wonderful description of the nature of God’s existence that includes the absolute possession of characteristics that have to be uniquely God was said, “First, God must exist necessarily, which means that God’s existence differs from ours by not being dependent on anything or anyone else, or such as to be taken from him or lost in any way. God has always existed, will always exist and could not do otherwise than to exist. Also, whatever attributes God possesses, he possesses necessarily” (Wood, J., 2010, p. 191).
Two of the most fundamental parts within the Cartesian dualism argument are both the conceivability argument, and also the divisibility argument. Both arguments aim to show that the mind (thinking things) and body (extensions) are separate substances, both of which arguments can be found within Meditation VI. Within this essay, I shall introduce both arguments, and critically assess the credibility of both, discovering whether they can be seen as sound arguments, or flawed due to incorrect premises or logical fallacies.
Descartes proof of the existence of God is derived from his establishment that something cannot come from nothing. Because God is a perfect being, the idea of God can be found from exploring the different notions of ideas. Descartes uses negation to come to the conclusion that ideas do not come from the world or imagination; because the world contains material objects, perfection does not exist.
With an understanding of distinct existences, Descartes is thus able to argue the existence of himself as a thinking being as well as his body being a separate, non-thinking extension (Descartes 167).” Even with the high degree of doubt and uncertainty involved here, the very fact that God is not a deceiver [and] if nature is considered in its general aspect, then I understand by the term nothing other than God. And by my own nature in particular I understand nothing more than the totality of things bestowed on me by God” (Descartes 168). At this point Descartes has built his foundation on the belief of God’s goodness in order to resolve the counterarguments he encountered in his First