The final skeptical argument that Descartes offers is the argument from God’s omnipotent power (Class notes, Week 1). This argument is different from the first two arguments because it is calling into question God’s omnipotent power to deceive us into believing what is true is actually false. Descartes arrives to this argument because after the dream argument he admits that though he maybe dreaming, there are things in that world that remain consistent whether the senses were fooled or not. Those things are principles such as, algebra, geometry and arithmetic. He suggests that whether he is awake or sleep, two plus three will equal five. Descartes begins this argument with the confirmation that God exists. He suggests that God exists because
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As a result of doing so, Descartes was able to rebuild his beliefs on the foundation of this things that he knew for certain was true. Descartes believed that trying to debunk all of his beliefs would be tedious so instead, he concluded that all of this beliefs came from the senses. He also concluded that the senses sometimes deceive us, thus they have a possibility of being false. Descartes does not argue that because we are sometimes fooled by the senses that we are always fooled by them. Instead he argues that there is a possibility for them to be false. Therefore, they are questionable. Along with the senses possibility of being deceptive, our sensory perceptions can be deceptive in a way that we could all be in a never ending dream. Descartes concluded that there is no way to distinguish between sensory perceptions in and out of a dream, it is possible for use to be in a dream twenty for seven. Lastly, Descartes beings into doubt our belief of a priori knowledge because he suggests that it could be the case that God is an evil genius that deceives us. The evil genius could make it so we are fooled into believing the what is true is false. After Descartes has torn down everything that he holds to be true, he concludes that he knows that he is a thinking thing. This assertion means that he knows that
As a result of doing so, Descartes was able to rebuild his beliefs on the foundation of this things that he knew for certain was true. Descartes believed that trying to debunk all of his beliefs would be tedious so instead, he concluded that all of this beliefs came from the senses. He also concluded that the senses sometimes deceive us, thus they have a possibility of being false. Descartes does not argue that because we are sometimes fooled by the senses that we are always fooled by them. Instead he argues that there is a possibility for them to be false. Therefore, they are questionable. Along with the senses possibility of being deceptive, our sensory perceptions can be deceptive in a way that we could all be in a never ending dream. Descartes concluded that there is no way to distinguish between sensory perceptions in and out of a dream, it is possible for use to be in a dream twenty for seven. Lastly, Descartes beings into doubt our belief of a priori knowledge because he suggests that it could be the case that God is an evil genius that deceives us. The evil genius could make it so we are fooled into believing the what is true is false. After Descartes has torn down everything that he holds to be true, he concludes that he knows that he is a thinking thing. This assertion means that he knows that