Philosophy 518
March 18, 2017
Descartes is a dualist philosopher known for his most renowned quote, “I think, therefore I am” which had been written in one of his main arguments for whether God can exist. In meditations 3, Descartes mission was to doubt absolutely everything, including the existence of his own body, God, the external world, etc. Descartes does not think he can be certain about his calculation that 2+3=5 (Quiz). When explained, “Doubt that which could be doubted suspends judgement on the belief of which can be convincingly doubted” (Notes). Aristotle had once said, “I am a rational animal because I am a human being.” But Descartes had strongly disagreed to this idea, because of his method of doubt. (Notes). Anything that remained …show more content…
With this information, he makes a distinction between formal reality, and representational reality. (Notes) There are two key principles in this idea. First idea, is that some things are more real than others, known as the levels of reality principle. (Notes). He believed that reality came in levels, and that some things were more real than others. The second idea, is that causes, must be real as the effects. One example he had given in Meditations 3, was with the concept of heat. “I feel the heat whether I want to or not, and this is why I think that this sensation or idea of heat comes to me from something other than myself, namely the heat of the fire by which I am sitting. And the most obvious judgment for me to make is that the thing in question transmits to me its own likeness rather than something else” (Meditations 3). These two ideas, have led Descartes to his conclusion that God exists. To break it down, Descartes claims that …show more content…
Although his ontological argument of God’s existence might come across sound at first, there are problems with his prove of Gods existence. Meditations had been written in a way that Gods existence is almost decided upon and never questions whether the idea of God can be learned. He assumes on the concept that God exists in everyone’s mind, and therefore, God must exist. This way of thinking had created certain boundaries, which would not work. In meditations, he states, “Certainly the idea of God is one that I find within me just as surely as the idea of any shape or number” (Meditations). He is comparing the idea of God as to something we know like a shape or number. This is considered logical reasoning, and Descartes fails to doubt how reliable logic can be. Similar to this objection, Descartes also dismisses to talk about the reality of God, and only talks about the idea of God. This may just be a problem with the use of words and language. I believe this argument is his weakest argument in
March 18, 2017
Descartes is a dualist philosopher known for his most renowned quote, “I think, therefore I am” which had been written in one of his main arguments for whether God can exist. In meditations 3, Descartes mission was to doubt absolutely everything, including the existence of his own body, God, the external world, etc. Descartes does not think he can be certain about his calculation that 2+3=5 (Quiz). When explained, “Doubt that which could be doubted suspends judgement on the belief of which can be convincingly doubted” (Notes). Aristotle had once said, “I am a rational animal because I am a human being.” But Descartes had strongly disagreed to this idea, because of his method of doubt. (Notes). Anything that remained …show more content…
With this information, he makes a distinction between formal reality, and representational reality. (Notes) There are two key principles in this idea. First idea, is that some things are more real than others, known as the levels of reality principle. (Notes). He believed that reality came in levels, and that some things were more real than others. The second idea, is that causes, must be real as the effects. One example he had given in Meditations 3, was with the concept of heat. “I feel the heat whether I want to or not, and this is why I think that this sensation or idea of heat comes to me from something other than myself, namely the heat of the fire by which I am sitting. And the most obvious judgment for me to make is that the thing in question transmits to me its own likeness rather than something else” (Meditations 3). These two ideas, have led Descartes to his conclusion that God exists. To break it down, Descartes claims that …show more content…
Although his ontological argument of God’s existence might come across sound at first, there are problems with his prove of Gods existence. Meditations had been written in a way that Gods existence is almost decided upon and never questions whether the idea of God can be learned. He assumes on the concept that God exists in everyone’s mind, and therefore, God must exist. This way of thinking had created certain boundaries, which would not work. In meditations, he states, “Certainly the idea of God is one that I find within me just as surely as the idea of any shape or number” (Meditations). He is comparing the idea of God as to something we know like a shape or number. This is considered logical reasoning, and Descartes fails to doubt how reliable logic can be. Similar to this objection, Descartes also dismisses to talk about the reality of God, and only talks about the idea of God. This may just be a problem with the use of words and language. I believe this argument is his weakest argument in