Ontological Arguments for the Existence of God Essay

In the fifth Meditation, Descartes presents his second argument for the existence of God. Descartes holds that existence is perfection and so, it can be a predicate for God. I will first explain what is the ontological argument for the existence of God. Next, I will discuss why Descartes decides to bring God into His method of philosophy. I will then try to argue that existence is a perfection and that as a predicate for God, existence reveal certain true about God. Ontological argument tries to prove the existence of God from a priori perspective, i.e., idea implanted in the human mind by God himself. The argument therefore depends on analytic reasoning, from premise to conclusion. Descartes believes that he has an inborn idea which he†¦show more content†¦Thus, having proven his own existence beyond doubt, Descartes can now proceed to discover other clear and distinct truth, i.e., God. After Descartes proves his very existence out of the shadow of a doubt, he must now find a perfect and all-knowing God in order to escape the evil genius. For Descartes, sensory experience are all doubtful and thus, he would consider them to be false for nothing truth can be deduced from sensory experience up to this point of the meditations (Beardsley p.33). As long as the deceiver is in place, his quest for an epistemological guarantor will persist. Thereby, the existence of an all-perfect non-deceiving God is necessary for Descartes to be certain ab out clear and distinct ideas. Descartes seeks to prove the existence of God and as we already know, part of his idea of God is an absolutely perfect being, then according to Descartes, conceiving this idea of God is almost the same thing as conceiving that God actually exists. Therefore, Descartes must then proceed to prove the existence of such a perfect God. In his mind, Descartes conceives different ideas of things. Those ideas may be â€Å"situated outside† of his mind or within his thoughts (Beardsley p.44). For Descartes, God is an infinite substance, â€Å"independent, all-knowing, all-powerful†¦Ã¢â‚¬  from which all things proceed (p.48). In other word, God is the most perfect being from whom all other things proceed. According to Descartes’ philosophy, the idea ofShow MoreRelatedThe Existence Of God : Ontological Argument Essay1696 Words   |  7 PagesThe question of the existence of God has troubled mankind for thousands of years. Many philosophers and theologians have always searched for prove whether God exists. Many of them constructed valid arguments which support theist believes. The existence of God was once never denied, as His presence, His existence was evident in miracles and the people s faith. But time and the advancement of modern science have called God and His very nature into question. 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