Rene Descartes was a French philosopher who was known as the “Father of Modern Philosophy”. Descartes gives us six different reflections, which are the Meditations, his most acclaimed work. These letters are written to some of the wisest and most dignified men. To find a better understanding of these letters for myself, I want to dig deeper into
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“From the fact alone that I cannot conceive God except as existing, it follows that existence is inseparable from him, and consequently that he does, in truth, exist” (Davis 68). Descartes explains that only an adequate thing could produce an idea of God, and because God is the only adequate thing, then there has to be a God. Descartes thinks of this idea of God deceiving him but his conclusion that, “it is impossible that He, God, should ever deceive me, since in all fraud and deception there is some element of imperfection” (Rogers 79). Descartes comes to the conclusion that he can doubt other things but he cannot doubt the existence of God because of his definite and transparent view of …show more content…
“Descartes speaks of his ‘faculty of judgment.’ By this he means only that he recognizes that he has the ability to form beliefs about the truth or falsity of various claims” (Meditation). Descartes considers that since he serves an almighty God that his “faculty of judgment” shouldn’t lead into error. Maybe this would be true for an infinite being, like God, but Descartes comes to the conclusion that humans are finite beings so it is impossible for us to be faultless. Descartes explains that “error is not merely the lack of all possible true beliefs, but the presence of false beliefs” (Meditation). Then he ponders the question of, where does falseness come from? We as Christians hear this question quite often and refer to the answer as freewill, or better know as the problem of evil. God gave us freewill as a gift, and as humans we twist this gift and turn it into something that is not so favorable in God’s eyes. Descartes stresses that God is not to blame for human error, it is man’s aberration and man alone has to strive for purity and
“From the fact alone that I cannot conceive God except as existing, it follows that existence is inseparable from him, and consequently that he does, in truth, exist” (Davis 68). Descartes explains that only an adequate thing could produce an idea of God, and because God is the only adequate thing, then there has to be a God. Descartes thinks of this idea of God deceiving him but his conclusion that, “it is impossible that He, God, should ever deceive me, since in all fraud and deception there is some element of imperfection” (Rogers 79). Descartes comes to the conclusion that he can doubt other things but he cannot doubt the existence of God because of his definite and transparent view of …show more content…
“Descartes speaks of his ‘faculty of judgment.’ By this he means only that he recognizes that he has the ability to form beliefs about the truth or falsity of various claims” (Meditation). Descartes considers that since he serves an almighty God that his “faculty of judgment” shouldn’t lead into error. Maybe this would be true for an infinite being, like God, but Descartes comes to the conclusion that humans are finite beings so it is impossible for us to be faultless. Descartes explains that “error is not merely the lack of all possible true beliefs, but the presence of false beliefs” (Meditation). Then he ponders the question of, where does falseness come from? We as Christians hear this question quite often and refer to the answer as freewill, or better know as the problem of evil. God gave us freewill as a gift, and as humans we twist this gift and turn it into something that is not so favorable in God’s eyes. Descartes stresses that God is not to blame for human error, it is man’s aberration and man alone has to strive for purity and