Descartes First Meditation On The Existence Of God

Sara Simpson Final Paper Due: 12/06/2015 Professor Minglai Dong Descartes Third Meditation: Recommended Topic 2 Descartes’ third meditation on First Philosophy is all about the existence of God. There are many things that Descartes talks about in this meditation. His intentions are to create a set of proofs or arguments that will irrefutably prove God’s existence. He already believes that God exists but he is mainly trying to dispute the reasons why God might not exist or how God may be a deceiver. The definition of God to Descartes can be summed up as the ultimate perfect being that is infinite. As a rationalist, Descartes was interested in knowledge based on reason or logic. The existence of God was an important facet to his understanding, because the existence of such a being meant that his knowledge could be certain. Descartes says, â€Å"I think therefore I am. †He can say with metaphysical certainty that he exists due to his ability to think and to reason. He is certain that he exists and is a thinking thing that doubts, affirms, denies, etc. â€Å"I am a thing that thinks, that is to say, a thing that doubt, affirms, denies, understands a few things, is ignorant of many things, wills, refrains from willing, and also imagines and senses. (Descartes 70)† He then goes on to talk about math as an example of a certain and simple concept that is also true and important to him. â€Å"But what about when I considered something very simple and easy in the areas of arithmetic orShow MoreRelatedDescartes Belief in God Essay1503 Words   |  7 PagesDescartes and God In his groundbreaking work, Meditations on First Philosophy, the French philosopher Rene Descartes lays the groundwork for many philosophical principles by attempting to â€Å"establish a bold and lasting knowledge† (171)1. The foundations for knowledge Descartes established would go on to influence a plethora of other philosophers and philosophical works. 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