Descartes' Meditations Ontological Argument

1008 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Definition of god essay

Descartes' Meditations Ontological Argument

Descartes's fifth Meditation argument for God's existence relies on an untenable notion that existence is a perfection and that it can be predicated of God. I shall first explain what Descartes's argument for God's existence is, and then present his argument in propositional form. I will then attempt to support the argument that existence is neither a perfection nor a predicate of God.

In our thoughts we apprehend ideas of things. These ideas may reside entirely within our thoughts or they may exist independent of our considerations of them (Descartes 143). Descartes argues that the idea of God is that He is infinite substance "[eternal, immutable], independent, all-knowing, all-powerful" to which nothing more perfect can be imagined (Descartes 149; 151). Descartes defines the more perfect as "that which contains in itself more reality" (Descartes 146), so that there are gradations of perfection beginning with the subjective phantasms, such as a chimera, and culminating with the most perfect being in God Himself. Thus, because our idea of God is one of absolute perfection, and existence contains more reality than nonexistent thoughts alone, God exists. Descartes's argument can be represented logically as:

(1) In our thoughts we experience an idea of the most perfect being.

(2) Existence in reality is more perfect than existence in our thoughts alone.

Therefore, (3) the most perfect being exists in reality.

Descartes wishes to argue that existence is a perfection and hence it belongs to those characteristics of the divine nature. However, a thing cannot possess a characteristic unless it first exists. In his reply to Descartes's argument, Gassendi complains that "...

... middle of paper ...

...trying to demonstrate, namely that a most-perfect being must exist in order to be a most-perfect being. Last, predicating the existence of God as a divine attribute seems to be unhelpful in addressing His actual existence. Descartes needs to arrive at God's existence through empirical means that do not rely on a restatement of the problem in the form "if x then x" as a solution to God's actual existence.

Works Cited

Barnes, Jonathan. The Ontological Argument. London: Macmillan, 1972.

Descartes, Rene. "Meditations on First Philosophy." Trans. John Veitch. The Philosophy of the 16th and 17th Centuries. Ed. and Comp. Richard H. Popkin. New York: The Free Press, 1966. 122-180.

Kant, Immanuel. Critique of Pure Reason. Trans. Norman Kemp Smith. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1965.

Plantinga, Alvin, ed. The Ontological Argument. London: Macmillan, 1968.

Show More
Related

  • Physician-Assisted Suicide and Free Will

    2443 Words  | 5 Pages

    Kant, Immanuel. Critique of Pure Reason. Trans. Norman Kempsmith. New York: The Humanities P, 1950.

    Read More

  • Mediations of First Philosophy by Descartes

    1291 Words  | 3 Pages

    In conclusion, Descartes made an argument to prove God’s existence and seemed to be able to prove that he existed, but after a taking a closer look and revaluating his theories you see that he uses a lot of circular reasoning. It is really tough to believe any of what Descartes is saying. After reading his meditations you are left confused, mostly because you are trying to decipher what he is saying and you end up going around and around because of the circular reasoning. Even without the circular reasoning the argument just doesn’t make any sense, especially in today’s world, without any data. To be able to fathom a sound argument for the existence of God just sounds too preposterous to believe. To believe that God exists based of faith and religion is what people today and in Descartes time, as well, believed. To say that God exists because there must have been some superior creator that put this idea in my head is very far fetched. People don’t need to be told that God exists because most people already believe and most of them know that he does.

    Read More

  • Humes' and Descartes' Position on the Existence of the External World

    1321 Words  | 3 Pages

    My thoughts on God are clear and distinct that he is existent. Descartes’ now has ‘rebuilt’ the world, solely because of his power and reasoning. Descartes’ is only able to use his power and reasoning because he knows God is a guarantor of his ideas and thoughts. As Descartes thinks about his own imperfections, it leads him to think about perfection, and how it has to come from something superior to him.... ...

    Read More

  • The Dream Argument by Rene Descartes

    1011 Words  | 3 Pages

    Descartes, Rene. Discourse on Method and Meditations on First Philosophy. Trans. Donald A. Cress. 4th ed. N.p.: Hackett, 1998. Print.

    Read More

  • Red Badge of Courage Essay

    532 Words  | 2 Pages

    A newly enlisted rookie by the name of Henry Fleming battles his own wits as well as the attacking Confederate army in the fictional novel, The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane. Tormented by doubts of his own bravery, his fears come true, and he flees from battle. He runs from the scene only to be taken away to a day of weariness and struggles whilst making it back to camp. As the story progresses, he learns from his mistakes, grows out of his fears, and later turns out to be one of the bravest soldiers of all. In The Red Badge of Courage, by Stephen Crane, Henry Fleming is determined, curious, and brave although first fearful.

    Read More

  • Kate Chopin's Writing

    2343 Words  | 5 Pages

    Elizabeth Fox Genovese of Emory University shared in a PBS interview that “She [Kate Chopin] was very important as one of the earliest examples of modernism in the United States or, if you wish, the cutting edge of modernism in American literature” (PBS – Interviews). Kate Chopin published At Fault, her first novel, in 1890 and The Awakening, her last novel, in 1898 (Guilds 924). During these years Chopin wrote numerous other works and most, like At Fault and The Awakening, centered around upper-middle class Creole or French women involved in womanly uncertainties; such as, extramarital affairs, acceptable behavior in society for females, duties as a wife, responsibilities as a mother, and religious beliefs. Chopin was an extraordinary woman, and no indication was made, during the investigation of this research paper, reflecting her having regrets regarding her position as a wife or mother. This document is an attempt at comparing the issues the main characters experienced and presenting Chopin’s unique skill in writing about the culture she observed during her years of living in Louisiana. The tragedy of this author’s existence is that during her life the literary world did not recognize such exceptional skill.

    Read More

  • Descartes Proof Of God

    1660 Words  | 4 Pages

    Firstly, Descartes talks about “proofs” of the existence of God, explained in his third and fifth meditation. Meaning, his proofs are shown by experiment to prove that God exists. He reinterprets Archimedes ' saying, “required only one fixed and immovable point to move the whole earth from its place, I can hope for great things if I can even find one small thing that is certain and unshakeable (Descartes 159).” That he could shift the entire earth

    Read More

  • The legend of Robin Hood

    1374 Words  | 3 Pages

    In conclusion, it is impossible, as far as our knowledge goes, to know for certain if Robin Hood was an actual person, based on an actual person, or was merely legend. There is strong evidence that Robin Hood was based on an actual person and there are many possible candidates for the real-life Robin Hood, but there is no definite evidence for any of them. The true identity of the legendary Robin Hood may one day be known if more evidence presents itself.

    Read More

  • Descartes Meditation V

    1286 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Meditation V, Descartes presents what is now considered the Ontological argument for the existence of God. Descartes claims that as the idea of a “supremely perfect being [God], is one which I find within me just as surely as the idea of any shape or number”, the essence of this idea itself is evidence of God, as for something to be perfect it must exist. Of course, this argument is open to many attacks from those such as Aquinas, Kant, Leibniz, Gaunilo and Hume. Furthermore, Descartes undermines himself with his previous meditations, for instance, in Meditation II, he claims we must question “what is reasonable”, as we do not already know. If we cannot appreciate the definition of reasonable, how are we to understand or even fathom what

    Read More

  • Comparing Knowledge in Descartes’ Meditations on First Philosophy and Hume’s An Enquiry Concerning

    860 Words  | 2 Pages

    Descartes, Rene. Meditations on First Philosophy. Translated by John Cottingham. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge. 1996.

    Read More

  • Third Meditation, by Rene Descartes

    869 Words  | 2 Pages

    Descartes proof of the existence of God is derived from his establishment that something cannot come from nothing. Because God is a perfect being, the idea of God can be found from exploring the different notions of ideas. Descartes uses negation to come to the conclusion that ideas do not come from the world or imagination; because the world contains material objects, perfection does not exist.

    Read More

  • Analysis of Descartes’ Mind/Body Distinction

    1172 Words  | 3 Pages

    [1] Descartes, Rene. Meditations on First Philosophy. 1641 [Translated by John Veitch (1901)] Meditation 6, http://www.classicallibrary.org/descartes/meditations/9.htm

    Read More

  • The Legend of Robin Hood

    1153 Words  | 3 Pages

    However, the fact of the matter is: there is no single story of Robin Hood. The written sources that exist are based on oral tradition, and obviously, the story in its entirety may vary. The first known mention of Robin Hood comes from late in the thirteenth century, and the first books were written centuries later. Therefore, it is difficult to conjure one story with complete factual accuracy. The following is the standard version as written by American author Howard Pyle and includes many major stories of Robin Hood’s endeavors.

    Read More

  • Descartes: Relationship Between Mind and Body

    935 Words  | 2 Pages

    Descartes. "Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy." Readings in Modern Philosophy. Ed. Roger Ariew and Eric Watkins. Vol. I. Indianapolis: Hackett, 2000. 22-55. Print.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Descartes Foundationalism

    1378 Words  | 3 Pages

    In this paper I will describe the foundationalist structure of Descartes’ arguments in his work Meditations on First Philosophy. Foundationalism is the view that there are some beliefs are epistemologically basic and can be known without knowing anything else is true (Loeb, Lecture 1-14). For example, philosophers such as Descartes would acknowledge that geometric truths, such as 2 + 2 = 4, are so fundamental that they don’t need to be proven through argumentation. Thus, these truths can provide the basic foundation for further arguments. In my paper, I will show that two foundational claims of Descartes are first, the existence of the mind, and second, the existence of God. From these claims Descartes derives many others, including the argument for material objects and souls. As I lay out Descartes’ case, I will examine the philosophical soundness and validity of his foundationalist account, as well as its merits and potential weaknesses. In the end, I will conclude that Descartes’ foundationalism, while alluring in its simplicity, does not survive deeper investigation.

    Read More

More about Descartes' Meditations Ontological Argument

Open Document