e under discussion, Descartes states that because he cannot conceive of God except as existing, it follows that existence is inseparable from God. The existence of God is what determines this. Descartes is not free to think of God without existence, for existence is a supreme perfection and God is a supreme being. The mere fact that Descartes can conceive of God as existing also means that he cannot conceive of God as not existing, for God would then not be a perfect being. Descartes' argument is a variation on that offered centuries before by St. Anselm of Canterbury, who stated that conceiving of God was to conceive of something than which nothing greater can be conceived, and such a thing cannot exist in the understanding alone. Such a statement would seem to preclude the necessity of proving that God exists, though Descartes does offer a number of v
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