Existence of God in the Descartes Meditations Term Paper

Existence of God in Descartes' Meditations

Descartes approached the question of whether God, in fact, exists in Meditation Three and Five, using two very different lines of argument. In Meditation Three, he approaches the question of God's existence through examining the nature of human consciousness, whereas in Meditation Five, he examines the nature of material things. Thus, by using two different approaches, Descartes succeeds in presenting a holistic argument that proves the existence of God, which is the reason why I find both equally persuasive. In fact, it can be said that the arguments used by Descartes in Meditation Three and Five are really two halves of one whole, and, to that extent, could easily have been combined as one Meditation.In Meditation Three, Descartes attempts to prove the existence of God through effectively pointing out that the idea of an eternal, omniscient, omnipotent creator of all things is an idea that cannot have arisen in a vacuum. Neither can it have emerged from observing phenomena outside the self through the senses, but is an idea already innate in human consciousness. Indeed, the knowledge of God's existence essentially arises from the consciousness that human knowledge is not yet complete, which is proof of human imperfection. Yet, there is also the simultaneous acknowledgement that the potential for perfection exists, which is the reason….....