In Descartes Third Meditation, he tries desperately to...

In Descartes Third Meditation, he tries desperately to prove that god exists; he does so by clearing all thoughts because they potentially could be false. He uses the fact that God thinks in order to prove his existence. In the third meditation he presents two arguments for the proof of his existence. I believe that these arguments contain many flaws. In the third mediation, Descartes moves forward in the establishment of the idea of certainty. He decides that the truths he earlier discovered in meditation two have a common element of being distinct and clear. He then states, â€Å"I now seem able to posit as a general rule that everything I very clearly and distinctly perceived is true (Descartes 19). He now realizes that things he†¦show more content†¦Descartes believes that god is, â€Å"a substance that is infinite, independent, supremely intelligent, supremely powerful†(Descartes, Pg. 31). Therefore the only way these ideas could have made it into his mind is i f God planted them there. Thus concluding that God must exist. It is clear that as his arguments progress there becomes a great deal of weakness. He makes the claim that he cannot possibly perceive any element that he himself does not possess. But, he states that he can perceive sizes and shapes, yet as a thing that thinks, how could he perceive these things without having shape or size? With this being said, why does he not rule out the existence of God from the very beginning? Since it is not likely that Descartes contains the all knowing and powerful traits that God does, how could he understand the elements of a perfect being? It does not make sense to me that if Descartes is not perfect, he should not be able to know the idea of a perfect being. For him to comprehend this perfect being, god would have had to plant it there. This argument becomes very confusing because if Descartes could conclude that he is not perfect he should be able to imagine a being who is almost opposite of him. He could then develop the idea of a perfect being; this cannot be used as proof of God, because Descartes could imagine a perfect being, without one existing. AnotherShow MoreRelatedDescartes Vs. Descartes Philosophy1142 Words   |  5 Pages Rene Descartes’ begins to illustrate his skeptical argument as presented in Meditation l. Descartes basic strategy to approaching this method of doubt is to defeat skepticism. This argument begins by doubting the truth of everything, from evidence of the senses to the fundamental process of reasoning. Therefore, if there is any truth in the world that overcomes the skeptical challenge then it must be indubitably true. Thus, creating a perfect foundation for knowledge. 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