Compare And Contrast Aquinas And Descartes

Throughout his “Meditations” Descartes will demonstrate that he is breaking away from the traditional way of thinking and metaphysics. And, throughout the text Descarte will lay out a foundation to a different way of thinking. One in which one does not solely rely on the senses to know things, but instead rely on an inspection of the mind. But, this conflicts with other philosophers of Descartes time, and it conflicts with what is being taught within the schools, Around Descartes time, many of the schools were using the writings of Aquinas and therefore Aristotle to teach, and they had become almost the center of philosophy. In this paper I will discuss and explain how Descartes’ views are different from the medieval and classical views of Aquinas and Aristotle. In “Meditation One” Descartes establishes that his …show more content…
Both sought to prove the existence of God in their writing. And, both of them used the ontological argument, which is an argument not based on the observations of the world, but through natural reasoning alone. But, they both had differences not only in the opinion, but on how to reach a side in an argument. Aquinas very much so believed in God, and using natural reasonings he thought he could prove the existence of God. Aquinas knew that you cannot prove that God exists for someone who does not believe through faith alone. So, within his writing Thomas is seeking ways on how to prove God exists using logic. While as a rationalist, Descartes saw reason as his primary source of knowledge. And, using his Meditations, mathematics, and skepticism sought to prove a higher substance (God) had to exist. Historically, not much is know if Descartes truly believed in God, or for the sake of being published hid his atheism. Aquinas argues that the only way to prove God exists is through reason, and with divine revelation even someone unsaved can come to know the