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Descartes on the Existence of a God Descartes realizes that he is a being that thinks, doubts, desires and questions many things. However, the notion that Descartes has of a God is the clearest and most distinct when compared to his other notions. Descartes realizes that since he is a being that thinks, there must be a supreme being more perfect than him to help him realize his imperfections. For example, how could he know what are his shortcomings, without a perfect more supreme being to compare himself to.
Also, how can he exist without a more supreme being to create him? Finally, he ponders whether the idea could have been innate in him, like the idea of himself was innate in him. All of these ideas led to his conclusion that a God does in fact exist, but to fully understand his conclusion, we must look more deeply into his third meditation. In his first two meditations, Descartes ponders his very own existence. At the conclusion of these two meditations, he realizes that he is a being that thinks, stating, ? I think, therefore I am, I am, therefore I exist? .
He also doubts his senses and objects of the corporeal world, saying they are simply perceptions in the mind alone. Finally, he concludes that because he doubts, realizes his imperfections, and is an objective thinker, that he is a finite being. This leads to his confrontation on the existence of a God. Descartes believes that something can not evolve from nothing. He associates this with ideas. When an idea is created, it is caused by a formal reality.
The product is therefore, the objective reality. Descartes explains that though one idea may come from another, the cause of the reality must come from an infinite source or a formal reality: a God. Therefore, his first point is now proved. Descartes proves this by stating, ?
If the objective reality of any of my ideas is found to be so great that I am certain that the same reality was not in me, either formally or eminently, and that therefore I myself cannot be the cause of the idea, then it necessarily follows that I am no alone in the world, but that something else, which is the cause of this idea also exists? .
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Research essay sample on Objective Reality Formal Reality
