Descartes Proof Of God

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TERM PAPER
PHIL 1301
Prepared by
Zainab Ahmed
Presented to
Professor Normand Theriault
February 22, 2017

Section I: Cartesian Proofs of God
Descartes posits two distinct but related proofs of God’s existence. The first is commonly known as the ontological argument, the simplest version of which would more or less boil down to: (major premise) We have an idea of God, (minor premise) our idea of God includes His necessary and eternal existence, (conclusion) therefore God does exist, necessarily and eternally (Principles of Philosophy Part I, 14). The second argument Descartes posits is a bit more complicated, at least inasmuch as it involves a great number of operations. In Descartes’ second proof, he reasons similarly to the Scholastics, and finds that (major premise) we have an idea of God, (minor premise) ideas, like all other things, depend on a cause, (2nd minor premise) causes are necessarily greater …show more content…
In his third meditation (related to his second proof of God as expressed in Section I above), Descartes entertains the idea of himself causing himself, rightly decides that this is not the case, but not because self-causation is absurd and impossible, but simply because “I myself would be God! …but I observe no such power [of self causation in me, therefore I am not God]” (Classics of Western Philosophy, p. 501). This is an unspoken assumption of his, that God causes Himself, and is nonsensical. Feser explains how this proof subsequently unravels, given that “the way he gets to his conclusion is by way of the idea that there is and must be something that causes itself, only it cannot be you, me, or any other non-divine thing but has to be God” (Descartes’ “Preservation” Argument, § 14). These departures from Scholastic axioms and awareness are Descartes’ ultimate undoing, rendering his system unstable and his proofs

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