René Descartes And Whether The Evil Demon Exists

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Deceivers, Demons, and God, Oh My;
Descartes and Whether the Evil Demon Exists

Descartes would not think that having an idea of the Evil Demon proves that the Evil Demon exists as it does with God. To explain why, I will first explain the logic behind the Evil Demon, discuss his reasoning of God’s existence then show why the Evil Demon would not apply with Descartes logic.

René Descartes is a famous French philosopher known for writing his meditations in the 1640s. In his meditations Descartes deal with what beliefs are true, and absolute, he uses his meditations to create foundations of true knowledge and thought. Descartes uses these meditations to defend his belief of God, yet he also write of an Evil Demon that could be controlling …show more content…

He separated his beliefs into those he is justified in believing and those he can suspend judgment, his Method of Doubt. However, he also separates his beliefs into, "innate...caused from the outside, and...invented by me" (pg 10) Sensations, such as the warmth of a fire or any visual signs are all created from the outside, he is simply absorbing them. Beliefs invented by him are those that are produced by his own imagination, he uses the example of hippogriffs and sirens, imaginary creatures his mind creates. Innate ideas are Descartes interpretations and understandings of truths and thoughts, from his own imagination. This all leads Descartes to wonder where his idea of God came …show more content…

The Evil Demon is a concept Descartes writes about early on, they are a " malicious, powerful, cunning" deceiver. (pg 3) The opposite of the good and true God. What if the Demon was controlling Descartes every thought. What if everything Descartes thought was real, his skin the sky his entire reality, was just created by the Evil Demon? Descartes comes to the realization that, he must exist for he can think. The Demon could never force him to not think while he is thinking. His cogito, "I am, I exist, must be true whenever I assert it or think it" expresses this and is well known in modern philosophy (pg 4) Descartes concludes that even if an Evil Demon exists, so must some part of him - for he can

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