René Descartes Ontological Argument

In René Descartes’ Fifth Meditation the French philosopher composed a revived version of St. Anslem’s ontological argument. Descartes’ argument is centered on his two Cartesian ideals: the first being the theory of innate ideas, and the second the belief in clear and distinct perception. In contrast to St. Anslem’s argument, in which he focused primarily on the meaning of the word “God,” Descartes’ argument centers on the innate idea of God which he believed every individual has been given. He argued that he knew himself to be an imperfect being, yet within his mind there is a concept of a higher being who is perfect and infinite. Since it is impossible for anything to create something greater from its own resources (perfection can only come

The term perfection relates to having qualities which are free from all possible flaws; so in order to have an idea of what perfection is one can simply look at the admirable qualities within themselves, disregard all the flaws, and enhance the desirable virtues. For example, by using qualities such as “beauty” or “wisdom,” one would realize that by imagining something more beautiful or wise than themselves that they have just created an concept of something greater than themselves. This brings up another issue regarding the assertion that “perfection can only come from perfection” due to the fact that words such as beauty, wisdom, and perfection are all subjective terms. Everyone has a varying understanding of the concept of perfection—it is nothing more than a label applied to desirable characteristics that we as imperfect beings lack. In order for our idea of true perfection to be perfect and to be implanted by a perfect being in the first place, then everyone’s idea of perfection would have to be the same. Since humans have varying standards and conceptions of perfection, then there can not be an innate and unmodifiable idea of perfection. By not properly establishing that God is in fact perfect, Descartes failed in