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Argument 1
- Something can come from anything
- The cause of an idea must have at least as much formal reality as the idea has objective reality.
- I have in me an idea of God. This idea has infinite objective reality.
- I cannot be the cause of this idea, since I am not an infinite and perfect being. I don't have enough objective reality. Only an infinite and perfect being could cause such an idea.
- So God - a being with infinite objective reality - must exist (and be the source of my idea of God).
- An absolutely perfect being is a good, benevolent being.
- So God is benevolent...
- So God would not deceive me and would not permit me to error without giving me a way to correct my errors.
Descartes suggests in 2 that something greater cannot come from something lesser, yet my parents created me yet I am smarter than them
Argument 2
- I exist.
- My existence must have a cause.
- The cause must be either:
a) myself
b) my always having existed
c) my parents
d) something less perfect than God
e) God
4. Not a. If I had created myself, I would have made myself perfect.
5. Not b. This does not solve the problem. If I am a dependent being, I need to be continually sustained by another.
6. Not c. This leads to an infinite regress
7. Not d. The idea of perfection that exists in me cannot have originated from a non-perfect being.
8. Therefore, e. God exists.
Descartes has not proven that existence must have a cause
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Descartes' evil genus argument is about a creature with god-like power that can deceive Descartes regarding absolutely anything. The purpose of conceptualizing such a creature is to cast everything you think you know into doubt so that you might see what remains.
Is the argument from morality for the existence of god a strong argument?
yes. it is
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That the existence of God is something that we can be certain of.
What is Descartes' dream argument about?
The dream argument claims that we have no way of determining conclusively at any moment whether or not we are dreaming. Hence, it is possible at any given time that we are dreaming. Descartes thinks that this mere possibility is sufficient to undermine knowledge. Why? The most likely reason is that Descartes assumes something like: if we were dreaming, then beliefs about the external world produced in us by our dreams would tend not to be true.
Descartes and the evil genius?
Descartes creates the evil genius in an attempt to throw everything that he thinks he knows into question. The evil genius has god-like power that he uses to deceive Descartes. Descartes cannot disprove the existence of such a creature. You cannot trust your thoughts in such a scenario, thus Descartes cannot be certain that any of the information he gets from his senses, his memories, his thoughts, or his beliefs is real.
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Philosophically, Descartes was concerned with the existence of reality.
Why is atheism impossible?
The short answer is it isn't; there are clearly millions of atheists. There is a theological thought that if there are all powerful gods, there wouldn't be any atheists, so the fact that there are is an argument against gods' existence.
What is the name of the strategy employed by Descartes in The Meditations?
The Ontological Argument
How did Rene Descartes prove god's existence?
Rene Descartes philosophy of logic and rationality led him to come to the conclusion that God must exist. Without his existence, there is not explanation for the universe.
What is Descartes' evil genius argument about?
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What does Cartesian philosophy conclude about the existence of God?
Descartes's major work is Meditations on First Philosophythe third of which deals with the existence of God as an 'effect'Rene' Descartes was a mathematician and idealist philosopher. His major impact on philosophy and religion was his ontological proof of the existence of God.
Is the argument from morality for the existence of god a strong argument?
yes. it is
What one thing was impossible for Descartes to doubt?
Descartes found it impossible to doubt his own existence. The reason for this was that he felt that thoughts had to come from himself.
What does descartes wants to convey in his third meditation?
That the existence of God is something that we can be certain of.
When was The Only Possible Argument in Support of a Demonstration of the Existence of God created?
The Only Possible Argument in Support of a Demonstration of the Existence of God was created in 1763.
What is an argument from design?
An argument from design is a theological term for a teleological argument - an argument for the existence of God, such that because nature is orderly, it is evidence of a designer.
