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How does Descartes Prove that God Exists - Essay Example

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In the book Voices of Wisdom, Rene Descartes proves the existence of God using his philosophical aspects. This clearly shows his statements and questions. This paper aims at helping students examine the complex elements of Rene’s proof of God’s existence…
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How does Descartes Prove that God Exists
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Extract of sample "How does Descartes Prove that God Exists"

How does Descartes Prove that God Exists? In the book Voices of Wisdom, Rene Descartes proves the existence of God using his philosophical aspects. This clearly shows his statements and questions. This paper aims at helping students examine the complex elements of Rene’s proof of God’s existence. This can make them understand and offer some explanation of how these philosophical aspects work. This plays a vital role in assisting students to understand if God exists. This also makes students be able to offer a reasonable evaluation of Descartes’ statement in the book.

If it is possible to prove the God’s existence, does one require faith? Philosophers need to evaluate their arguments carefully. This paper discusses how Rene proves that God exists in detail as seen hereunder (Kessler, 2000). To start with, Rene argues that in order to have the idea of something, then one need to understand it, then there may exist something, which is known. This implies that God exists as he knows that God is in existence and most people understand this. Rene goes ahead to prove that God exists when he says that all things that he has can have some clear idea.

However, he cannot produce these things for himself and have received from the entity, therefore, these things exist. This means that God exists. At the start of the meditation three, Descartes made some moves towards defeating his doubt. He uses his usual methods of doubt and analysis systematically to examine all of his beliefs. He leaves those that he would call into doubt till he arrived at one of the belief that he may no longer doubt. This explains that evil genius, which seek to cheat him and could not cheat him into thoughts, which he could not exist when indeed he existed.

After determining for certain that he is in existence, when applying the second method of doubt as well as analysis, he also determined that his essence was to be thinking a thing (Kessler, 2000). By use of the third application of the methods, Descartes sets himself to show God’s existence. He can prove some truth if he proves that God exists. He commences by the idea that God is powerful as well as all good. He goes ahead to argue that the idea could not originate from himself. Hence, the idea should have come from God.

From this essence of thinking, Descartes gets satisfied that God exists. However, this reasoning is insufficient to convince persons who have never had that idea about God. These people may argue that because they have no similar ideas, then God is not in existence. Indeed, how can the existence of God be for one person, but not the other? It then follows that God is in existence or not in existence. This argument is convincing to a person that already believes and has faith in God, however; it seems impossible of proving the existence of God to an atheist.

In addition, he says that he believes in God, however; he does not imagine that his being depends on his idea of God. Being that most people do not have believes of the existence of God, may not make Him not to be in existence. This logic seems to be true with the reasoning of Descartes. Just because some people such as Descartes believes that God exists does not imply that God must exist. I look at some concrete modes of prove such as the bible and Jesus Christ to believe that God exists. If God required this to be the guessing of his existence, he should not have presented Jesus as his living testimony.

I may say that philosophy is the worst avenue of establishing ones beliefs on God’s existence. The people’s limited knowledge always transcends by God even Rene Descartes concurs with this (Kessler, 2000). Before Descartes would speculate on the relationship between his body as well as his mind, he has to start by proving the existence of material things. His argument states that God can bring anything into existence. Since knows that God is in existence, it then follows that all the materials exist.

He goes ahead to argue that God is all good and powerful; therefore, he cannot make people’s judgment about this world to be faulty. In this case, Descartes appears to be in the world of evil. God has the power to make the world to be the way He wants, therefore, why should an all good God permit the evils to occur in the world (Kessler, 2000). In conclusion, it is clear from the Voice of Wisdom that God is in existence. This is vividly brought out by Descartes in his arguments. This is because there must be something that brought all the creatures into existence, and that is God.

Descartes may answer this by saying that the one’s idea of the mind may encompass a person’s soul. Rene uses all his philosophical aspects such as Cartesian version to ensure that people understand that God exists. Work Cited Kessler, Gary. Voices of Wisdom. Rutledge: Thomson Publishers. (2000). Print.

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