Descartes s Meditations On The Existence Of God - 929 Words

Descartes sets out in his meditations to prove that something exists beyond any doubt. He determines that the only way to prove anything outside of his mind is to prove the existence of his idea of God. The ideas that come from his process are interesting, but he doesn’t prove the existence of God is undeniable. Several arguments Descartes uses to claim God exists, don’t hold up to what he has proved up to that point in his meditations. The first being his use of the causal principle on which the rest of his argument seems to rely. Descartes begins the meditations in an effort to wipe out previous knowledge and rebuild it only on knowledge he can know without a doubt. Going through all he believes and deciding if he should still believe is too arduous a task so he goes through several steps and determines that everything can be doubted, even the science and mathematics we know. First he says we can’t trust what we know from our senses because they can deceive us, for example feeling a hat on your head after you remove it. He then says there is no way for him to believe any event because he could be dreaming. Sometimes when he dreams he thinks he’s awake so he knows his mind can’t tell the difference. Descartes remembers his idea of God and realizes God can do anything, including deceive him about what he thinks is real. He decides a perfect God wouldn’t deceive, so he imagines an evil genius creating us and deceiving us at all times. Now, he can put all previous knowledgeShow MoreRel atedThomas Aquinas vs. Descarates Essays673 Words   |  3 PagesAQUINA’S V. DESCARATES Meditation III Several hundred years ago, two great philosophers Thomas Aquinas’s and Rene Descartes used the method of ontological argument for the existence of God and used intuition and reason alone to get to each other’s theory. Rene Descartes wrote out several mediations, but the one we’re going to touch base on is meditation III that he wrote in the 1600’s; While Thomas Aquinas’s wrote his five proofs of God in 1270 that specifies God’s existence in each proof; the oneRead MoreDescartes Belief in God Essay1503 Words   |  7 PagesDescartes and God In his groundbreaking work, Meditations on First Philosophy, the French philosopher Rene Descartes lays the groundwork for many philosophical principles by attempting to â€Å"establish a bold and lasting knowledge† (171)1. The foundations for knowledge Descartes established would go on to influence a plethora of other philosophers and philosophical works. Descartes argues in his meditations first from the point of view of complete skepticism, using skepticism as a tool in order toRead MoreEssay about Descartes First Meditation924 Words   |  4 PagesDescartes#8217; first meditation, his main objective is to present three skeptical arguments to bring doubt upon what he considers his basic beliefs. Descartes believes this to be an intricate part of his complete epistemological argument. Descartes skeptical arguments are not intended to be a denial of his basic beliefs. On the contrary, he uses these arguments to help prove one of his main theses, which is the existence of God. One of the main premises that Descartes uses in his proof forRead MoreThe On First Philosophy By Rene Descartes1699 Words   |  7 PagesIn his work Meditations on First Philosophy, published in 1641, Renà © Descartes sets out to establish a set of indubitable truths for the sciences. He begins by discarding all of his beliefs, then works to rebuild his beliefs based on careful thought. Descartes clearly states this goal, saying in the First Meditation, â€Å"I will work my way up†¦ I will accomplish this by putting aside everything that admits of the least doubt† (I, 17). He is able to establish his own existence, but struggles to move beyondRead MoreDescartes Meditations On First Philosophy1080 Words   |  5 PagesThroughout Rene Descartes’ Meditations on First Philosophy, God is not mentioned until the third meditation. Descartes point of view on God simply claims his existence through the act of being. According to his claim, God must, essentially, exist as well as being an outcome of His own creation. Descartes was greatly interested in the idea that God’s being promoted an external force that controlled all beings that supported his presence. Descartes declarations, presented in his Meditations on First PhilosophyRead MoreDescartes’ Cogito Argument Successfully Shows the Evil Demon Argument is Unsound888 Words   |  4 PagesDoes Descartes’ Cogito argument successfully show that the Evil Demon Argument is unsound? In this essay I will attempt to show that the philosopher, Renà ¨ Descartes’ Cogito Argument successfully proves the Evil Demon Argument to be unsound. By an analysis of the structure of the arguments and what they prove, I will show the evil demon argument to be unsound. An argument is unsound when the premises as false and the argument is invalid. This analysis of both structure and content will eventuateRead MoreThe Meditations On First Philosophy1486 Words   |  6 PagesThe Meditations on First Philosophy gives us with an assumed evidence for the existence of God those progresses from the existence of an idea of an unlimited existence in the human mind—an idea of God—to the being of God himself. Insofar as we have an idea of an unlimited existence, an idea with â€Å"infinite independent reality†, we can reasonably ask when it arrived to us. The only thinkable reason of this impression, prerogatives Descartes, is an countless existence, explicitly, God. The manifestationRead MoreThe Meditations By Rene Descartes1384 Words   |  6 PagesRenà © Descartes main goal in the Meditations is to establish that one exists and that a perfect God exists. However, he first argues that the idea that everything perceived around one could be false because the senses are sometimes deceiving. In the first Meditation, Descartes introduces skepticism and brings forth a method of doubt in which he evaluates his beliefs, and questions whether they are true or false and why they should be doubted. He presents various hypothesis that prove there is reasonRead MoreAnalysis Of Rene Descartes Theory Of God Essay1514 Words   |  7 Pagesbelief of God in conceptual value has been imbued in the heart of the human race as a core valve in man’s history. From antiquity to contemporary modernism, there has always been a diversified integration composed of believers and non-believers of God. The assemblage of those who have â€Å"pledged their al legiance† to God foster a like-minded relation to one religious group or another. On the other hand, â€Å"rationalist - freethinkers† as I would like to call them, postulate the perception of God to be inexplicableRead MoreWilliam Robertson Smith, A Scottish Orientalist, Old Testament1692 Words   |  7 PagesThe god can no more exist without his people than the nation without its god. This quote means that the amount of belief that people have on God reflects on how much hope God has for a nation. This quote ties into various discussions that have been going on for a long time, and that is whether or not God exists. A well known philosopher who shares his view on this argument would be Rene Descartes who says, I think therefore I am. This assertion has come to be known as the cogito. Descartes struggled