Descartes Argument on God's Existence
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Descartes seeks to prove that God exists and to do so without reference to the external world. The first approach is through conceivability, and in the Third Meditation Descartes examines the ideas he has in his mind as "modes of thought" that are similar in the sense that they exist in his mind but are different form one another in that some contain more "objective reality" than others. Certain ideas might have been produced by experience, and these include such ideas as colors, touch, measurement, and other objective elements which could be discerned through the senses. The idea of God also exists within the mind, and this idea must have derived from a cause. Descartes asks if he could have been the cause of this idea, as he is the cause of the idea of color or other sensations. To answer this, he considers what it is that he means by God and states that he means a substance which is infinite, independent, omniscient, and omnipotent. Descartes examined these qualities and found that the idea of God could not have originated within himself, deciding that while he could conceive of substance because he was himself substance, he could not conceive of infinite substance except as infinite substance placed that idea into his mind. Descartes argues from a mathematical point of view concerning quantity or quantification and finds that the most certain truths are those which are recognized in connection with mathematics. He then asks if it is not so that the mere fact tha
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necessarily exist.
It could be objected that the fact that Descartes can think of God as existing does not mean that God exists, for Descartes cannot impose necessity on things. Descartes answers this objection in the Fifth Meditation by emphasizing that the fact that he cannot think of God except as existing shows that existence is inseparable from God and that he really exists:
It is not my thought that makes it so, or imposes any necessity on any thing; on the contrary, it is the necessity of the thing itself, namely the existence of God, which determines my thinking in this respect (46).
This argument from reality is called an argument from reality because it delves into the nature of every thing and not merely with the idea of every thing. The idea of every thing contains within it the concept of existence, for we cannot conceive of anything except as existing. There is a distinction to be made, however, between possible or contingent existence and perfect existence. Dominic exists, but his existence is contingent and he will one day no longer exist. The idea of Dominic does not contain within it the concept of perfect existence--Dominic will not exist forever, is not omnipresent or omnipotent. His existence is lim
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Approximate Word count = 1482
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)
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