Rene Descarte's Argument

It is not until the day of his graduation that Descartes realizes that he still does not know. He had been taught theories based on the beliefs of teachers and books, none having any evidence of being true. He ends school even more confused because different teachers and books held different opinions, so he was not sure what was accurate. This is when he begins to take matters into his own hands. He decides to discard all of his ideas, even the ones that seem true. He opts to begin his own method of good reasoning, and he lists out four rules to developing this method. He also lists out the steps to deconstructing his mind. It’s not until after this does he begin to explore the truth about his soul, God, and the universe. His first step in …show more content…
He says (pg 18), “I think, therefore I am.” His premise is “I think” and his conclusion is “therefore I am”, which generates a valid argument. What he is trying to explain is that he doubts, questions, and even thinks. Therefore, he has to exist. The simple fact that he is thinking makes him something. This statement is so obvious that it cannot be proven wrong. His body may not even exist, or he cannot be certain that it does. He cannot prove that the body nor anything material exists yet, because (pg 18) “our senses sometimes deceive us.” His soul, which is his mind, is separate from his body and constantly ponders the …show more content…
Even with this idea, he has another viewpoint implanted into his mind of a perfect being existing. How could he picture a perfect being if his mind itself is not perfect? He suggests (pg 19), “It is a manifest contradiction to receive this idea from nothing, and because it is no less a contradiction that something more perfect should follow from and depend upon something less perfect than that something should come from nothing, I could not obtain it myself.” He is explaining that it is impossible that he could receive this idea form nothing. He understands that an imperfect being cannot come from nothing either, it has to come from something more perfect. He then describes (pg 19), “this idea had been placed in me by a nature truly more perfect than I was and that it even had within itself all the perfections of which I could have any idea, that is to say, to explain myself in a single word, that it was God.” It is in this moment that he comes to the conclusion that a perfect being had to have placed this idea of “perfection” in his head. This, in fact, validates God’s existence to be completely

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