Existence of God

There are various systems and arguments for proving God’s existence; created by a plethora of theologists, psychologists, and philosophers, but I will be focusing on one: The Ontological Argument for God’s existence. The basic structure for the Ontological argument is set up as a reductio ad absurdum argument, which is essentially an argument which derives a solution by presenting the opposition to the desired solution, then formulating that it is absurd, or illogical, then in turn proves the…

previously thought to be certainly true, brings him to the subject of the existence of God in his Third Meditation. Before he touches on the existence of God, he concludes that there are three different types of ideas. There are fictional and adventitious ideas which Descartes’ creates on his own and finally there are innate ideas which are present in the mind at birth. With these types of ideas in mind, he begins to tackle the idea of God and which category he falls under. Many people have…

God’s existence, and thus the existence of all which follows from God’s existence, without acknowledging God as “the first member of the series.” According to Edwards, by not denying the existence of God (even if God is not the first cause), one does not reduce the argument to the non existence of everything. Furthermore, according to Edwards, if an infinite regress is impossible, then it doesn’t mean there were not many different first causes or that the first cause is still in existence.…

believe things to be true until it was proven otherwise. In these meditations Descartes had complex opinions. In the case of Descartes in meditations a greater individual than him existed. Descartes’ claim insisted with the existence of the idea of God to the real existence of God. To support his argumentative opinions, Descartes points two distinct arguments that were utilized by “Augustine in the fourth century and Thomas Aquinas in the thirteenth century” (Shouler). They consisted in the…

“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…

to prove his existence and that God exists? (one of the proofs). Discuss whether his reasoning is sound and convincing. In this essay, I will discuss how after the first and second meditation, Descartes knows that he exists and that he is a thinking thing. I will then proceed to analyze the third meditation in which Descartes focuses on a causal argument for existence of God who is perfect. By the end of the third meditation, Descartes appears to prove that he is not God and that God exists.…

There have been many arguments made over the years that are designed to show proof for God’s existence or a lack thereof. Thirteenth century philosopher St Thomas Aquinas is one of those people who formed their own argument supporting God’s existence. The Five Ways, as he called them, were designed to in five different ways prove beyond a reasonable doubt that there is in fact a God who subsists all around the world. The “Argument from Possibility and Necessity”, the third of Aquinas’ ways is…

In Meditation III of Meditations on First Philosophy, Rene Descartes sets the stage for proving the existence of God. While he begins with the fact that he is a “thing that thinks” with an ability to sense, imagine, doubt, and understand the world around him, Descartes confirms that these ideas exist within him. Since he is certain that he exists and thinks and that he “clearly and distinctly perceives” things, he then concludes that whatever he perceives clearly and distinctly is true. However,…

Among the main arguments for the presence of God is referred to as cosmological argument and it affirms that the flora and fauna that make the world were not capable existing on their own and therefore there ought to be something that brought them into their right place. The initial cause for the world to begin was God according to this argument. Since God was the main source of the universe’s presence, it has therefore been concluded that God really exists. This argument has however been met…

Descartes’ view on the material world begins with him defining himself as a thinking substance and God as a perfect substance. Without any real justification, while in the process of thinking, there are a variety of different modes working. If he could not say that thinking things exist, then how could he say in what form thinking things exist if had suspended belief in everything? He was unsure. Continued by stating that the mind, the soul, and man’s entirety, merely uses the body, so it can…