Descartes then makes the point that he has the idea of “infinite”
describing God. At the same time, Descartes is a “finite” being, meaning he is
limited in space and time. Since it has already been established that this more
perfect idea of infiniteness cannot come from the less perfect idea of
finiteness, the idea could not have originated from Descartes alone. Therefore,
Descartes concludes that God necessarily exists. Whether or not Descartes or I
exist is indisputable; the fact that I am contemplating my existence proves it.
What is disputable are the conclusions that can be drawn from that realization.
Descartes observed a quality within the truth of his existence, that is, his
existence is very clear and distinct. Then he used this quality as a rule—that
all things clear and distinct are true. That is no more accurate than saying
that all ideas that are vague and ambiguous to me are untrue, unconditionally.
Also, the existence or God depends on the clarity and distinctness with which we
perceive the idea of God, for if it was not clear and distinct then it would not
necessarily be true.
But the clarity and distinctness of our thoughts depends on
the existence of God. This seems to me a very circular argument and can hardly
survive as a proof. Descartes said right from the beginning of the meditation
that he has the idea of a perfect being and that he is imperfect. This leads
into the second problem I have with Descartes’ proof—that he uses his imperfect
judgments to decide what attributes are perfect and which are not. He then
applies the ones he judges as perfect to God. In doing so, he is assuming that
his judgment is as perfect as the idea of God. If Descartes did not think that
his judgment was as perfect as the idea of God, he would not have used it to
determine the qualities that God possesses. The final difficulty that I
discovered in the proof involves the usage of the concepts of formal and
objective reality. I cannot fathom that for me to have an idea, it would
necessarily exist. To illustrate, I can think of a God and I can also think of a
being so absolutely imperfect. Since Descartes holds that existence is a
perfection, how can this idea of an absolutely imperfect being exist? So now I
have an idea with an objective reality and by Descartes’ rule, it must also have
a formal reality. I do not see how this is possible. Descartes was obviously a
man of great intelligence, but ultimately failed in proving God’s existence.
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