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An Essay on Rene Descartes
Summary of the existence of god according to descartes
Summary of the existence of god according to descartes
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Rene Descartes was a French philosopher connected with the Scientific Revolution of the sixteenth and seventeenth and hundreds of years and is frequently referred to as both the Father of Philosophy and in addition the Father of Modern Mathematics. Descartes sought after various insightful diversions and delivered an expansive body of works in these ranges. The Discourse on the Method is a philosophical and personal treatise distributed by René Descartes in 1637. The Discourse on the Method is a standout amongst the most persuasive works ever, and imperative to the advancement of characteristic sciences.
In part four, the most critical part of the Discourse, Descartes depicts the consequences of his contemplations taking after the method he
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He takes note of the sureness with which geometers can demonstrate actualities, for example, the way that the angles in a triangle indicate 180 degrees. This is part of the quintessence of a triangle, but then for all that, there is no confirmation that one triangle really exists on the planet. At the point when examining God, then again, he perceives that existence is as much a vital property of God's as having three angles that indicate 180 degrees is a crucial. Descartes comments that individuals experience issues with these proofs on the grounds that they depend only on their faculties and imagination (Descartes, 16). God's existence must be seen by reason, and not by these other two staffs. Truth be told, God's existence is more sure than whatever else, since all different things are liable to the questions that Descartes has effectively raised. These questions must be uprooted by the distinguishment about the presence of God; our acceptable and unique perceptions are valid, since those perceptions come to us from God, and we can rest guaranteed that all our perceptions must be valid to the degree to which they are clear and different (Descartes, 16). We see obviously and particularly when we practice our reason legitimately, and we are deluded when we depend only on our faculties or …show more content…
Such uncertainty successfully devastates the entire undertaking of Aristotelian philosophy, which builds its claims with respect to tactile experience and demonstrative reasoning. His objective is to scope away the philosophical prejudices of the past two thousand years and to begin over again. In doing as such, he likewise figures out how to set the tone for the almost four hundred years of philosophy that tail him. The inquiries of how we can realize that there are items external to our brains, that there are personalities other than our own, etc, have been fervently in the light of Descartes' new standard for what considers conviction (Descartes,
... 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.
In earlier meditations Descartes proved that he existed through the Cogito argument. Descartes must now move on to examine and explore questions about the world around him, but instead of doing this he first stop to examine the question of whether or not God exists. Descartes wants to know that he was created by an all knowing, perfect creator that is good and wants to make sure that he was not created by an evil spirit or demon. If Descartes can prove that he was created by a perfect all knowing creator then his ideas must carry some semblance of truth, because God is not a deceiver and he must of placed these ideas in Descartes. Descartes has good reasons for searching for the answer to the question of God’s existence, now he has to come up with a good sound argument to prove it.
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...
Rene Descartes meditations on the existence of God are very profound, thought-provoking, and engaging. From the meditations focused specifically on the existence of God, Descartes uses the argument that based on his clear and distinct perception that cannot be treated with doubt, God does exist. In the beginning of the third meditation, Descartes proclaims that he is certain he is a thinking thing based on his clear and distinct perception, and he couldn’t be certain unless all clear and distinct perceptions are true. Before diving into the existence of God, Descartes introduces smaller arguments to prove the existence of God. For example, Descartes introduces in his argument that there are ideas in which he possess that exists outside of him. Utilizing the objective versus formal reality, Descartes states “If the objective reality of any of my ideas turns out to be so great that I am sure the same reality does not reside in me, either formally or eminently, and hence that I myself cannot be its cause, it will necessarily follow that I am not alone in the world, but that some other thing which is the cause of this idea exists” (29). In other words, the ideas of objective reality that resides in Descartes can potentially only come from a supreme being, which is God; God possess more objective reality than he does formal reality. We as humans, as Descartes states, are finite substance, and God is the only infinite substance. The only way for us as a finite substance to think of an infinite substance is possible if, and only if, there is an infinite substance that grants us the idea of substance in first place. After these smaller arguments, Descartes states that while we can doubt the existence of many things, due to the fact that ...
He argues that if he does not solve God’s existence, he will not be certain about anything else. Thus, Descartes says that he has an idea of God and, therefore, God exists. However, in order to be certain of His existence, Descartes provides proofs that will illustrate his reasoning. The four proofs include formal reality vs. objective reality, something can’t arise from nothing, Descartes cannot be the cause of himself, and therefore, the bigger cause is God. Now that Descartes knows God is real, he must solve another aspect, which is if God can be a deceiver.
After settling that God exists in his first few passages, Descartes adds that God is the perfect being. Due to the fact that he understands what a perfect being is, than God must be a sovereign being. Similar to his triangle theory that it is not a necessity to imagine a triangle. It is not a necessity to imagine a perfect being rather a thought that has run through our mind. The triangle as imagined and conceived has three sides and a hundred and eighty degree angles as always. It is imperative that these characteristics are always attributed to the triangle, likewise the attributes of a perfect being are placed on God.
Descartes asserts knowledge is done through experimentation using a scientifc method to removing opinions, and come up with a solution to conflicts. In the Discourse on Method, Descartes describes his unique style of reasoning, and makes clear that his main goal for writing is to solve epistemology, or the theory of knowledge. Similar to Socrates, Descartes sensory perceptions cause a false belief in the world around us, he believes one needs to be thinking on the intelligible level, however Descartes provides a different method to achieving this goal.
Descartes, Rene. Discourse on Method and Meditations on First Philosophy. Trans. Donald A. Cress. 4th ed. N.p.: Hackett, 1998. Print.
4. Descartes, Rene, and Roger Ariew. Meditations, objections, and replies. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Pub., 2006. Print.
Rene Descartes decision to shatter the molds of traditional thinking is still talked about today. He is regarded as an influential abstract thinker; and some of his main ideas are still talked about by philosophers all over the world. While he wrote the "Meditations", he secluded himself from the outside world for a length of time, basically tore up his conventional thinking; and tried to come to some conclusion as to what was actually true and existing. In order to show that the sciences rest on firm foundations and that these foundations lay in the mind and not the senses, Descartes must begin by bringing into doubt all the beliefs that come to him by the senses. This is done in the first of six different steps that he named "Meditations" because of the state of mind he was in while he was contemplating all these different ideas. His six meditations are "One:Concerning those things that can be called into doubt", "Two:Concerning the Nature of the Human mind: that it is better known than the Body", "Three: Concerning God, that he exists", "Four: Concerning the True and the False", "Five: Concerning the Essence of Material things, and again concerning God, that he exists" and finally "Six: Concerning the Existence of Material things, and the real distinction between Mind and Body". Although all of these meditations are relevant and necessary to understand the complete work as a whole, the focus of this paper will be the first meditation.
Next, in the fourth meditation, which leads into Descartes’ thoughts on himself in God’s view. It is important to compare to the third meditation. A second point of view of not just an idea, but now Descartes himself. He asks why a perfect being such as God does not make a perfect being like Descartes himself. He questions why he is not perfect in that sense. Then he explains, it would take much arrogance to question the motives of God. Not only that, but it just simply cannot be comprehended. He rejects the trial, and simply believes; since he himself is not perfect, the idea as a whole may be. He is just a part of the “big picture.” He then concludes he should only make judgements on what he is certain of.
Descartes: Philosophical Letters, translated and edited by Anthony Kenny, Oxford University Press, Inc., 1970 pp. 11f, 14f, 236f, 150f.
Descartes, R. & Donald A. C. (1993). Discourse On Method; And, Meditations On First Philosophy / René Descartes; Translated By Donald A. Cress. Indianapolis: Hackett Pub. Co.
The sense of the Cartesian reform is the imposition of a new method of thinking. Descartes’ method to begin with is reductive, removing all knowledge acquired without control, to become analytical, putting forward any knowledge in a process of division to present simple elements, those which are clear and distinct. In his philosophical thinking, certain parts are dedicated to scepticism, dualism between body and the soul, the theory between existence and thinking, his idea of deceptive sensory perceptions and the existence of God. All these original particularities are the principle characteristics of Descartes’ philosophy of humanity. Throughout the First Meditation, Descartes questions what he already knows, applying his method of “methodical doubt”, a theory suggesting all things can be doubted and therefore one cannot accept anything unless proven with absolute certainty. He conjures three arguments to support his idea, the dreaming, madman and evil demon argument. Descartes’ Second Meditation proves his existence as a thinking being. Known as the Cogito argument, he argues one cannot be tricked about his own existence, meaning he cannot be around without being aware of it, therefore he must think and then he must exist. He also establishes Cartesian Dualism, an argument which suggests there are two fundamental substances, a mind and a body. Having demonstrated the existence of the soul in the ...
Cottingham, John. Descartes: Meditations on First Philosophy. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1986. 1-8. Print.