God Exists :: Descartes Philosophy Religion Essays

beau ideal ExistsThe existence of God has been a question since the idea of God was conceived Descartes tries to usher Gods existence, and to show that there is without a doubt something external to ones own existence. He is looking for a definite certainty, a foundation for which he keister nursing home all of his beliefs and know that they are veritable. Descartes overall project is to perplex a definite certainty on which he can base all his knowledge and beliefs.Descartes attacks the principles that support everything he believes with his Method of inquiry. The Method of Doubt is Descartes method of fundamental questioning in which he doubts everything that there is the slightest evidence to doubt. Think about it like this. Almost everything you believe to be true comes from the senses or through the senses. However, the senses are sometimes deceptive. Since the senses are not on the whole trustworthy, it is irrational to place complete trust in them. However, it is no small(a) leap of faith to presume that everything our senses specialize us is false. In fact, it seems to the highest degree absurd to assert such a thing. Nevertheless, as Descartes points out, we have dreams on a regular basis and in these dreams, everything we experience is a figment of our imagination, or at least(prenominal) not real in the physical sense. So, it is reasonable to doubt everything our senses tell us, for the time being. Now, using similar logic, we can say that everything we have larn from physics, astronomy, medicine, and other such fields are all doubtful. Descartes notwithstanding believed we could say that such simple, logical statements as 2+3 = 5 or a firm has 4 sides could be conceived to be false. Since I try on that others sometimes make mistakes in matters that they believe they know most perfectly, may I not, in like fashion, be deceived every time I add two and three or count the sides of a square We are now at the point where we are doubtin g everything - the domain of a function around us, that we have a body, and anything else that we could possibly believe.Perhaps I even doubt that I exist myself. In doing this, I am in the act of doubting. How can I doubt something if I do not exist? Similarly, maybe I am deceived into thinking I do not exist by some other entity. Then I must exist for it is I who is being deceived.