Essay on Descartes Meditations - 1018 Words

Descartes Meditations Descartes meditations are created in pursuit of certainty, or true knowledge. He cannot assume that what he has learned is necessarily true, because he is unsure of the accuracy of its initial source. In order to purge himself of all information that is possibly wrong, he subjects his knowledge to methodic doubt. This results in a (theoretical) doubt of everything he knows. Anything, he reasons, that can sustain such serious doubt must be unquestionable truth, and knowledge can then be built from that base. Eventually, Descartes doubts everything. But by doubting, he must exist, hence his Cogito ergo sum. It is from this thought that Descartes is able to determine God exists and create his first†¦show more content†¦He reasons that, through these principals, his idea of God cannot have come from himself, as he is an imperfect being. He does not have the capability of thinking of an infinite substance or a perfect substance, such as God, because he has lesser reality t han these ideas and cannot be the cause of them. The only way these ideas could exist is if they were created by something of equal (greater being impossible, as infinite perfection cannot have a superior) reality. Because God is the only infinite Descartes can recognize at this state, it must be God that planted the idea in his mind. Descartes first argument for the existence of God can be summarized as follows: 1)I have an idea of a perfect being 2)There are two forms existence- contingent and necessary 3)Necessary existence has greater reality than contingent 4)A perfect being must have necessary existence 5)A perfect being must exist, if it has necessary existence 6)Therefore, God exists (Notes) This allows Descartes to begin to gain true knowledge, because his perfect being exists and would not allow him to be deceived all the time because perfection does not allow for that behavior. In the Fifth Mediation, Descartes purports his ontological argument for the existence of God. It is simpler than his first and based on Gods essence. For anything else that exists, the essence of that thing only implies its existence. For God, however, essenceShow MoreRelated The Meditations by Rene Descartes1003 Words   |  5 PagesIn Descartes’ Meditations, his goal to prove the existence of things could only be accomplished if he was logical, clear, and correct in his thoughts and writings. The most important issues he noted were the threat of being deceived and the potential of being incorrect in his judgments, both of which would lead him into error. Error exists as a problem that individuals encounter on a regular basis, and it also exists as a focal point in Descartes’ Meditations. Descartes defines error as â€Å"a privationRead More Descartes - Meditations Essay1649 Words   |  7 Pages In the Meditations, Rene Descartes attempts to doubt everything that is possible to doubt. His uncertainty of things that existence ranges from God to himself. Then he goes on to start proving that things do exist by first proving that he exists. After he establishes himself he can go on to establish everything else in the world. Next he goes to prove that the mind is separate then the body. In order to do this he must first prove he has a mind, and then prove that bodily things exist. I do agreeRead More Descartes Meditations Essay2147 Words   |  9 PagesDescartes Meditations In Descartes’ meditations, Descartes begins what Bernard Williams has called the project of ‘pure enquiry’ to discover an indubitable premise or foundation to base his knowledge on, by subjecting everything to a kind of scepticism now known as Cartesian doubt. This is known as foundationalism, where a philosopher basis all epistemological knowledge on an indubitable premise. Within meditation one Descartes subjects all of his beliefs regarding sensory data and evenRead MoreEssay on Descartes Meditations1153 Words   |  5 PagesDescartes Meditations The way Descartes chose to write this piece literature captivated me. Descartes was a very intelligent man who wanted to make sense of the world he lived in. The format he used was unusual. It seems to me that he may have used this format, which is a replication of the book of Genesis in the Bible, to have a deeper and more profound impact on the reader. There are many similarities between Descartes Meditations and the first book of the Bible, Genesis. ForRead MoreEssay on Descartes - Meditations1640 Words   |  7 PagesIn the Meditations, Rene Descartes attempts to doubt everything that is possible to doubt. His uncertainty of things that existence ranges from God to himself. Then he goes on to start proving that things do exist by first proving that he exists. After he establishes himself he can go on to establish everything else in the world. Next he goes to prove that the mind is separate then the body. In order to do this he must first prove he has a mind, and t hen prove that bodily things exist. I doRead MoreDescartes Meditations On First Philosophy1961 Words   |  8 PagesIn Descartes’ Meditations on First Philosophy, I will be considering if Descartes resolution to the â€Å"dreaming argument† seems acceptable to trust. The First Meditation is where the â€Å"dreaming argument† is first mentioned and then gets resolved later in the Sixth Meditation and the Objections and Replies. I will be touching on the idea that our experiences could be dreaming experiences based on personal experiences and thoughts I have had regarding this topic. Then I will go on to explain how it isRead MoreThe Philosophy Of Descartes Meditations1698 Words   |  7 PagesDescartes Meditations is said to be the beginning of Western Philosophy. His writings are still greatly referred to to this day, and he is most famous for his quote â€Å"cogito ergo sum† which translates to â€Å"I think, therefore I am.† Each of Descarte s’ meditations are followed by objections from other theologists and philosophers, and thereon followed by replies from Descartes. Some objections are made stronger than others, for example, Thomas Hobbes, and it could be doubted whether or not DescartesRead MoreThe Meditations By Rene Descartes1384 Words   |  6 PagesRenà © Descartes main goal in the Meditations is to establish that one exists and that a perfect God exists. However, he first argues that the idea that everything perceived around one could be false because the senses are sometimes deceiving. In the first Meditation, Descartes introduces skepticism and brings forth a method of doubt in which he evaluates his beliefs, and questions whether they are true or false and why they should be doubted. 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Ultimately, Descartes is unable to satisfactorily answer the Evil Demon doubt because his argument does not prove that God’s existence would not prevent the serious errors in judgment and perception caused by t he Evil