Rene Descartes Special Causal Principle Summary

Descartes: The Special Causal Principle and the Existence of God
In the 3rd Meditation, Descartes concludes that the he is a thinking thing and continues by determining whether there is anything that exist outside of him. Descartes then provides an argument which aim is to determine whether God exist, and this is presented as an argument for the existence of God based on an idea. In this, the Special Causal Principle arises and well as the concept of “clear and distinct ideas”. The aim of this paper is to ascertain whether the argument makes use of the two principles by critically evaluating the argument based on the idea of God.

To summarize René Descartes’s presentation of the argument for the existence of God based on an idea: first, an effect cannot be more real than its cause, thus, it must have as much reality as the cause, and this is particularly important to determine whether …show more content…
The evaluation of the Special Causal Principle and the clear and distinct ideas principle, in accordance to Descartes’s main argument has demonstrated that the author does not, in many instances, make use of both principles. Descartes’s argument is plausible but the lack of substantial evidence supporting his argument. By the critical evaluations of the two doctrines present in this paper, the lack of evidence is clear: first, Descartes does not make use of the Special Causal Principle, specifically in relation to God being a perfect being, and having the same properties as what He’s created. Second, it is not valid to determine whether God truly exists, despite Him being an incomprehensible entity according to Descartes, thus, one cannot conclude that something exist based off of the sole fact they are clearly and distinctly perceived in the mind. There is no plausible explanation as to why something must necessarily exist if they exist in the