René Descartes built the argument for God’s existence more than once in his “Discourse on Method and Meditations of First Philosophy”, and it wasn’t easy. The basis for his first ultimate proof of God’s existence is developed in Meditation One and Two, in which he establishes how one can know things, and builds certainty of his own existence from the ground up. Meditation Three includes his first attempt at defining God’s existence with a logical proof, in which Descartes takes the power of perception as well as a measure of reality within things and ideas to arrive at the conclusion that his idea of God cannot exist without God having existed first. While the majority of this argument succeeds logically, several facets fail to satisfy his
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Descartes posits that he must exist, because in order for him to be persuaded by an evil God, or for him to believe or disbelieve his senses, he must first exist. He clearly and distinctly perceives (CDP) it to be so, and there is no other direct proof for his own existence except for this irrefutable CDP, so Descartes decides that this is another standard by which he can measure the truth and knowledge of the outside world (64). Also included in this theory of CDP is the idea that because he can separate himself from everything but his thought, he must consist of only a thinking thing (65). Consequently, that which can be divided from himself does not necessarily exist, such as sense perceptions or a body. Another standard Descartes presents in determining the truth of knowable things is if the deceiving God could create an illusion that it is true: “what am I, when I suppose that there is some (…) malicious deceiver that deliberately tries to fool me in any way he can? Can I not affirm that I possess at least a small measure of all those things which I have already said belong to the nature of the body? (…) nothing comes to mind” (page 65). If it is possible for a deceiving God to have placed knowledge as an illusion into Descartes understanding, then that piece of knowledge is subject to some level of doubt, and therefore rejected. Lastly, by examining a piece of wax, Descartes determines that CDP exists separately from the senses and imagination. He knows the essence of wax, what it means to be wax, even in the presence of the complete alteration of the presentation of the wax to the senses (page 67). The intellect associated with CDP is not subject to doubt as senses and imagination are, and because it is that CDP that brought Descartes to the irrefutable proof that he exists, CDP is solidified as a clear method of
Descartes posits that he must exist, because in order for him to be persuaded by an evil God, or for him to believe or disbelieve his senses, he must first exist. He clearly and distinctly perceives (CDP) it to be so, and there is no other direct proof for his own existence except for this irrefutable CDP, so Descartes decides that this is another standard by which he can measure the truth and knowledge of the outside world (64). Also included in this theory of CDP is the idea that because he can separate himself from everything but his thought, he must consist of only a thinking thing (65). Consequently, that which can be divided from himself does not necessarily exist, such as sense perceptions or a body. Another standard Descartes presents in determining the truth of knowable things is if the deceiving God could create an illusion that it is true: “what am I, when I suppose that there is some (…) malicious deceiver that deliberately tries to fool me in any way he can? Can I not affirm that I possess at least a small measure of all those things which I have already said belong to the nature of the body? (…) nothing comes to mind” (page 65). If it is possible for a deceiving God to have placed knowledge as an illusion into Descartes understanding, then that piece of knowledge is subject to some level of doubt, and therefore rejected. Lastly, by examining a piece of wax, Descartes determines that CDP exists separately from the senses and imagination. He knows the essence of wax, what it means to be wax, even in the presence of the complete alteration of the presentation of the wax to the senses (page 67). The intellect associated with CDP is not subject to doubt as senses and imagination are, and because it is that CDP that brought Descartes to the irrefutable proof that he exists, CDP is solidified as a clear method of