Descartes and the Existence of God
Upon cursory examination, one might assume that Rene Descartes is a "non-believer" in the existence of a heavenly being, a God that presides over humans and gives us faith. However, this is simply not the case - Descartes is simply trying to destroy all of the uncertainties that have come about by the attempted scientific explanations of such a supreme being. For Rene Descartes and all of the other believers in the world, the existence of God provides a convenient answer to unexplained questions, while never providing answers to the questions about God himself. This is evidenced a great deal in the circular argument made by Descartes in the Meditations on First Philosophy. What follows is a brief account of the third and fifth meditations, which provide Descartes' response to the masked question, "What is God?" Can one perceive or confirm the existence of an idea that is external to him, an idea such as God? In order to determine the answer we must start by understanding the ways in which we can conclude an objects' existence. Descartes explains three ways in which a person might come to such a conclusion - the first, through nature; the second, through feeling a value that is independent of the will of the object; and the
Ultimately, it is his own dependence on another being that proves to him that there is a God. The only problem with Descartes' argument is when the existence of God arises as a notion, for there is no sustenance or idea for the notion of God to originate from. Is it possible, then, to create the idea of a finite being from an infinite existence, outside of the physical and mental, in a state all of it's own? Descartes drills us with the idea that an object will have an effect when it stems from a legitimate cause, or an initial idea that precedes with equal or superior properties in one's intellect. In other words, the mind generates thoughts and ideas about a physical form, and develops a reality for this form, through previous schema and beliefs. Many people are bred into religion, or borne into a set of ideas about a particular infinite being. The interesting problem with most types of faith in this manner is that the scripture that has been deemed to come from your god is also the proof that God exists. This is the type of circular definition that Descartes is trying to avoid at all costs. Basically, it's like using a word in it's own definition, or 'the definition of an apple is an apple.' The argument begins to get a little bit ambiguous when he begins discussing the uncertainty of his beliefs. He is, as he claims, as certain of the idea of the sun, the moon, the earth, even his own rational though, as he is certain of God's existence. The final factor that convinces Descartes that there is a God is the fact of his own existence, along with the fact that he, himself,
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Approximate Word count = 1078
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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