DESCARTES EXISTENCE OF GOD
Uploaded by Jonb24 on Dec 08, 2015
The Unknown Reality in the Existence of God
The existence of God has been a question since the idea of God was conceived. Descartes tries to prove God’s existence and to show that there is without a doubt something external to one’s own existence. He is looking for a definite certainty, a foundation for which he can base all of his beliefs and know that they are true. Descartes’ overall project is to find a definite certainty on which he can base all his knowledge and beliefs. Descartes attacks the principles that support everything he believes with his Method of Doubt. The Method of Doubt is Descartes’ method of fundamental questioning in which he doubts everything that there is the slightest reason to doubt. Thinking about it in a different way, to me it seems like almost everything you believe to be true comes from the senses or through the senses. However, the senses are sometimes deceptive. Since the senses are not completely trustworthy; it is irrational to place complete trust in them. However, it is no small leap of faith to presume that everything our senses tell us is false. In fact, according to Descartes it seems almost absurd to say such a thing.
Descartes argues in Mediation IV that, "it is impossible for God ever to deceive me, for trickery or deception is always indicative of some imperfection. And although the ability to deceive seems to be an indication of cleverness or power, the will to deceive undoubtedly attest to maliciousness or weakness. Accordingly, deception is incompatible with God." Descartes says that the will to deceive "attests to maliciousness or weakness". Therefore, stating that if a person has a will to deceive then she is either weak or malicious or maybe even both. Weakness and malicious, however, are imperfections. God, a being that has all perfections and no imperfections, cannot be weak, and cannot be malicious. Here stating, God cannot have the will to deceive. “For if everything that is in me I got from God, and he gave me no faculty for making mistakes, it seems I am incapable of ever erring... I nevertheless experience that I am subject to countless errors.” Descartes states that since God is not a deceiver, he cannot have given Descartes a mental means that inevitably leads him to make mistakes; this is why his clear and distinct perceptions must be true. And yet...