Descartes' Proof Of The Existence Of God
The intention of this paper will be to examine Descartes’ argument for the
existence of God. First, I will review Descartes’ proof for the existence of
God. Then, I will discuss some consequences that appear as a result of God’s
existence. Finally, I will point to some complications and problems that exist
within the proof. Descartes’ proof of the existence of God occurs in the Third
Meditation. He builds his entire argument upon his proof in the previous
meditation that in order for him to think, he must exist. From this single
observation, Descartes notices that the idea of his existence is very clear and
distinct in his mind; based upon this clarity and the fact that he has just
determined his own existence, he deduces a rule—that the things that he sees as
very clear and very distinct are all true. Descartes starts his proof by
dividing “thought” into four categories—ideas (concepts), volitions (choices),
emotions (desires), and judgments (beliefs). He then breaks down these
categories to discover which type/s of thoughts can yield error. The first thing
to realize is that there is no error in an idea. Error can occur only in the
judgment of whether the idea is true or false. For example, I may have an idea
of what it would be like to burn my finger, but that idea has no rightness or
wrongness until I make a judgment as to whether I believe or disbelieve the
idea. In other words, having an idea is one thing, but believing it is something
different. Concerning emotions and volitions, these forms of thought do not give
way to any error either since we can desire or choose anything and not find any
error in the fact that I desire it or choose it. Next, Descartes discusses where
ideas come from, namely, inside ourselves (innate or invented) and outside
ourselves (adventitious). Innate, or inborn, ideas include “my understanding of
what a thing is, what truth is, and what thought is” (38). These ideas are
considered innate because the understanding seems to be resulting simply from my
own nature.
They are in no way derived. When my senses (seeing, hearing,
feeling, etc.) come into play, I develop an idea adventitiously. For example, if
I were sitting by a fire, I would feel the heat of the flames. Feeling or having
the idea of the heat was not something I decided to do from within; therefore,
it must have come from something other than myself (i.e. the fire). Last but not
least, some ideas are made up in my own mind. For instance, I have developed an
image of my grandfather who passed away long before I was born. I have never
actually seen him, but I invented an idea of him. Descartes utilizes another
rule in his thought process in addition to the one stated previously—objective
reality cannot exist without formal reality. By this he means that an idea
cannot originate without a cause. Formal reality is characteristic of things and
ideas have formal reality because they are states of mind. Objective reality is
when things or ideas are representational of other things. Ideas automatically
have objective reality since the idea represents some reality. Also, the more
perfect ideas cannot come from the less perfect. This is known as the “Causal
Principle” and is more properly stated as “there must be as much reality in the
total and efficient cause as in the effect”. He explains that those ideas in us
that obviously do not have formal reality, such as a mermaid, are merely
combinations of other formal realities (a woman and a fish) and thus do not
invalidate the rule. Another important explanation to note is the difference
between being an idea and being the opposite of an idea. For example, “heat” is
an idea and “cold” is simply the lack of heat. The idea of “cold” is dependent
on the idea of “heat”. Now Descartes has established the rules by which to lay
down his argument. He then explains that he knows that he is imperfect due to
the fact that he has doubts. Clearly, knowing is more perfect than doubting.
From this notion, he realizes that within him lies this idea of a perfect being
and that he is incapable of producing this idea alone. Descartes determines that
such an idea must have a formal reality, a cause. This cause could not have
originated from a less perfect reality or being, since he has already
established that ideas can be less perfect than their cause, but never more
perfect. Descartes also determines several qualities that God possesses merely
by observing himself. Descartes thought that whatever ideas he himself had, if
they contained perfections, then God would possess them. If the ideas were in
any way flawed (imperfect), then God would not possess them. The attributes of
God that Descartes came up with are that He is “infinite, independent, supremely
intelligent, supremely powerful, and which created myself and everything else”
(45).
