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Questioning knowledge is Descartes’ overall objective in the Meditations. ... It was in his Meditations, specifically the 3rd and 5th, that Descartes would confront the task of proving God’s existence. He uses two arguments to discuss the correlation of God’s existence to the ideas he discusses throughout the Meditations. ... In both Meditations 3 and 5, Descartes uses several methods, which I will discuss, including proof of clear and distinct ideas, proof of essence of finite beings, and the correlation between essence and existence in order to prove God’s existence.
Descartes’ causal argument of the existence of God arises in Meditation 3. Descartes first must establish the truth of ideas as being clearly and distinctly perceived. ... Whatever is clearly and distinctly perceived would have to be incapable of being false in order to show us which of our ideas are certain (Descartes 29). This is true due to the fact that if Descartes were to be deceived by such a clear and distinct idea, then he would never be capable of affirming another. To annunciate his knowledge of the validity of clear and distinct ideas Descartes then asserts the knowledge of his own existence. ... Descartes establishes the fact that his own existence is known through clear and distinct perception and therefore is certain by using the cogito argument which states “I think and so I exist” (Descartes 23). However, there are many things Descartes perceives through his senses that cause him to doubt whether they can be clearly and distinctly perceived. ... There is the case of doubt which presents the question of the origin of these beings external to Descartes’ existence. Descartes knows that he can only be certain of his own existence which he has proof of from his cogito argument. Therefore, Descartes must inquire about the existence of a greater being in order to make these ideas certain. Referring to one of the most famous arguments of this, known as the Cartesian circle, Descartes uses his perception of God to justify that all ideas are clearly and distinctly perceived but in turn proves God’s existence by stating that it is a clear and distinct perception. Descartes may in turn argue that the clear and distinct perceptions he uses to prove God’s existence are different from the ones that he perceives as a direct result of God’s existence. Descartes provides the example that his perception of 2+3=5 is clear and distinct only if God confirms it, but his perception of God is clear and distinct without any doubt. ... Descartes is aware of his ideas of an infinite nature.
Approximate Word count = 2169
Approximate Pages = 8.7
(250 words per page double spaced)
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