Descartes Argument of God - 1540 Words

God Does Not Necessarily Have to Exist In Descartes’ Meditations, he makes the strong claim that God must exist. I will first explain what Descartes’s argument for God’s existence is, and then I will attempt to support the argument that God does not need to necessarily exist through objections and replies. Premise 1: â€Å"We have an idea of God as an infinite and perfect being.† First, Descartes believes that there are properties that are inherently perfect. For example, being good is a perfection while being bad is an imperfection. A perfect being has all the perfections as properties. We have an idea of such a being as God. Premise 2: â€Å"Our minds are not infinite.† To begin this argument, Descartes entertains the idea that he cannot†¦show more content†¦Many depictions of God is a perfect human being, and it is not uncommon for one to imagine what a perfect person would possess. The thought is then transformed in an idea of a being whose properties are perfect in every wa y. This way, the imperfect human would have something to strive for. So the idea of God is simply a collection of ideas, who does not have an infinite amount of objective reality. Therefore, since the objective reality of God is not infinite, humans could have been the creators of the idea, granted that an effect must have as much reality as its cause. Here, Descartes might entertain the idea that God could be a creation of humans, and therefore he does not necessarily have to exist. So God does not exist, but we can agree that God is the idea of a perfect being. Existence, however, is a perfection. But God now lacks a perfection by non-existence. The perfect being now lacks a perfection. The perfect being is imperfect. Therefore, the argument is a contradiction and God must exist. With this indirect argument, I would like to challenge the premise that existence is a perfection. Descartes grants the idea that God does not necessarily need to exist, and he even says that God does not exist. So, my objection here is that a thing cannot possess a property or characteristic if it does not exist. Essentially, to have something, one must need to exist in the first place. In other words, the prerequisite for perfection is toShow MoreRelatedDescartes Argument For God s Existence Of God Essay1103 Words   |  5 Pagespaper, I offer a reconstruction of Descartes argument for God’s existence in the Third Meditation. Descartes tries to prove the existence of God with an argument that proceeds from the clear and distinct idea of an infinite being to the existence of himself. He believes that his clear and distinct idea of an infinite being with infinite â€Å"objective reality† leads to the occurrence of the â€Å"Special Causal Principle†. I will sta rt by discussing and analyzing Descartes clear and distinct idea of an infiniteRead MoreDescartes Ontological Argument For The Existence Of God1302 Words   |  6 PagesShields Word Count: 10/30/2014 Descartes’ Ontological Argument for the Existence of God The Ontological Argument for the existence of God is an a priori argument that aims to demonstrate that God’s real-world existence follows necessarily from the concept of God. In Meditation V of Discourse on Methods and Meditations on First Philosophy, Descartes presents his version of the Ontological Argument for the existence of God. In this essay, I will argue that this argument fails because necessary existenceRead MoreDescartes Second Argument For The Existence Of God1642 Words   |  7 PagesPaper: Descartes’ Second Argument for the Existence of God As with almost all of Descartes inquiries the roots of his second argument for the existence of God begin with his desire to build a foundation of knowledge that he can clearly and distinctly perceive. At the beginning of the third meditation Descartes once again recollects the things that he knows with certainty. The problem arises when he attempts to clearly and distinctly understand truths of arithmetic and geometry. Descartes has enoughRead MoreDescartes Argument for the Existence of God Essay1167 Words   |  5 Pages Descartes employs what is known as an ontological argument to prove the existence of God. Saint Anselm who lived during the 11th century first formulated this type of argument. Since then it has proved popular with many philosophers including Rene` Descartes. Even though ontological arguments have lost popularity with modern philosophers there has been some recent attempts to revive them. Descartes formulation is regarded as being one of the best because it is straight forward and relativelyRead MoreDescartes s Argument On The Existence Of God1834 Words   |  8 PagesIn A Discourse on the Method, Descartes attempted to prove the existence of God in a priori manner. He did not trust his own senses when trying to prove the existence of God and therefore he relied on the ontological argument. By making the same assumption made by Anselm, which was that an ontological argument assumes that existence is a predicate of God, Descartes is able to conclude that ‘God exists’ is true by definition because the subject ‘God’, who already contains all perfections, alreadyRead More Renà © Descartes Argument on the Existence of God Essay1528 Words   |  7 PagesRenà © Descartes Argument on the Existence of God The problem with Renà © Descartes argument about the existence of God has to do with his rationalist deductive reasoning. Descartes deduces that truth about the existence of God lies within his idea of a perfect God and Gods essence (as a perfect being who must exist in order to be perfect). A rationalist philosopher, Descartes discounts human knowledge as a product of our sensory data (our senses) but supports the epistemological stance thatRead MoreComparing Aquinas And Descartes Arguments For The Existence Of God766 Words   |  4 PagesAquinas and Descartes both have arguments for the existence of God, with some similarities and a multitude of differences. Descartes presents two major premises in his argument with his degrees of reality principle and his casual adequacy principle. It is possible for Descartes to be influenced by Aquinas, but the arguments for the same thing differ greatly that even if any inspiration Descartes could have pulled from Aquinas work is minimal, to say the least. Comparing Aquinas and Descartes they bothRead MoreEssay about The Existence of God: the Arguments of Locke and Descartes965 Words   |  4 Pages Descartes believes that Gods existence is clear and distinct. God exists because the thought of God is derived from a completely clear and distinct idea from within his being (which he concedes is a thinking being). Having come from distinct thoughts, the idea of God can therefore never be considered a falsity. From this very distinct idea of God comes everything else that one grasps distinctly and clearly. He states, From the fact that I cannot think of God not existing, it followsRead MoreDescartes Meditation Iii1297 Words   |  6 PagesPhilosophy Descartes tries to prove the existence of God in the third meditation. He does this by coming up with several premises that eventually add up to a solid argument. First, I will explain why Descartes ask the question, does god exist? And why does Descartes think he needs such and argument at this point in the text. Secondly, I will explain, in detail, the arguments that Descartes makes and how he comes to the conclusion that God does exist. Next, I will debate some of Descartes premisesRead MoreDescartes Meditations On First Philosophy1712 Words   |  7 PagesDescartes’ Meditations on First Philosophy (1641) contains six Meditations. In the first two of these Descartes addresses doubt and certainty. By the end of the second Meditation Descartes establishes the possibility of certainty by concluding that he is a â€Å"thinking thing† and that this is beyond doubt. Having established the possibility of certainty, Descartes attempts to prove the existence of God. The argument he presents in the Third Meditation for the existence of God has been nicknamed the