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Descartes

Descartes. 3 rd Meditation. Proof of the existence of God. Descartes’ strategy: If we could prove that there is an all-powerful, all-knowing, and morally perfect God, then we would rid ourselves of the possibility of an evil deceiver.

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Descartes

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  1. Descartes 3rd Meditation

  2. Proof of the existence of God Descartes’ strategy: If we could prove that there is an all-powerful, all-knowing, and morally perfect God, then we would rid ourselves of the possibility of an evil deceiver. We could then cross over from our ideas and thoughts (in our minds) to the external world or reality, because we would know that there is a good God who would not deceive us.

  3. Thank you Descartes! Notice that his solution to the problem of the existence of the external world depends on his argument for the existence of God, so if his argument fails the problem remains!

  4. Descartes’ General Rule “it seems to me that I may now take as a general rule, that all that is very clearly and distinctly apprehended (conceived) is true” (129).

  5. Descartes’ General Rule Descartes claims that now he can make judgments that he could not make before. For instance, before he could not be absolutely certain that 2+3=5 was true. However, now, because he knows that what he apprehends clearly and distinctly is absolutely certain and he apprehends clearly and distinctly that 2+3=5, he knows this with absolute certainty.

  6. Criticism But couldn't an evil deceiver still fool him about the fact that he apprehends this clearly and distinctly when he does not. Isn’t this the whole point of the evil deceiver!

  7. 3 Kinds of Thoughts Ideas Volitions or affections Judgments

  8. 3 kinds of Ideas Depending on their origin Innate (co-existent with myself) Factitious (made by myself) Adventitious (caused by something other than myself)

  9. Judgments We can only make mistakes when we make judgments. Judgments are affirmations or claims.

  10. The Most Common Mistake The most common mistake is to judge or affirm that ideas existing in my mind are caused by things existing in the external world. And to judge or affirm that the things in the external world resemble the ideas in the mind.

  11. Adventitious Ideas How can I know that I have adventitious ideas? Is there an idea that I know I could not have caused?

  12. Objective Reality Objective reality corresponds to the reality an idea has in the mind. Some ideas have more objective reality than others. For instance, a substance has more objeective reality than an accident.

  13. Formal Reality The reality a thing has outside or independent of the mind.

  14. The Idea of God What about the idea of God? The idea of a perfect being? Why couldn’t I cause the idea of God?

  15. Principle of Causality “Now, it is manifest by the natural light that there must at least be as much reality in the efficient and total cause as in its effect” (133). “… and this is not only evidently true of those effects, whose reality is actual or formal, but likewise of ideas, whose reality is only considered as objective” (133).

  16. The Idea of God The idea of God is of a perfect being who is omniscient, omnipotent, and morally perfect. God is perfect in all of God’s attributes. “But these properties are so great and excellent, that the more attentively I consider them the less I feel persuaded that the idea I have of them owes its origin to myself alone. An thus it is absolutely necessary to conclude, from all that I have before said, that God exists:” (137)

  17. 2ndVersion of the Argument “And I ask, from whom could I, in that case, derive my existence?” Myself: Is not possible Parents or some other Deity: It is not possible. Must be a being with the attributes as great as the idea of God. ( from the P of C)

  18. God Exists God would not allow me to be deceived, therefore, I can now trust my perceptions as good indicators of the external world.

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