Analysis Of Descartes's Argument For The Existence Of God

Ever since the ancient and medieval eras of philosophy there have been debates amongst philosophers and theologians concerning the existence of, and attributes that should be ascribed to, the existence of God. In majority of religions around the world, this knowledge of ‘God’ exists; a being perceived as the supreme one, the creator of all. Now the term ‘God’, does not refer to any particular religious’ deities but a term that can cover everything from a perfect omnipotent being to something that can be considered quite ordinary (Dvorsky, 2016). Of the numerous philosophical arguments that have formed, the most well-known range from Plato, Aristotle and Aquinas’s similar cosmological argument which claims that there must be a reason for this

However, he further explores the concept of God 's existence to find definite evidence which can support his principles and ideologies; a definite certainty. Descartes’s main argument can be seen in the Fifth Mediation as well as some earlier comments in the Third Mediation (New World Encyclopedia, 2016). Moreover, he argues that knowledge derives from the certainty of the existence of one’s own consciousness and the innate ideas it holds. To attain absolute certainty, Descartes uses the methodical doubt. This method is supportive of Descartes’s will to emphasis on doubt and question anything that can be doubted. Thus, he demonstrates the presence of God through a chain of consequences ‘Causal proof’. Because of the law of conservation of matter, the cause must equal the effect, if we have an idea of God than this idea is the effect and God is the cause (Gaarder, 2003). Therefore, the idea we have of God is an innate idea that we did not produce ourselves. Accordingly, he expresses that as a result of his innate thoughts of God, it only makes sense that it be God who "is the reason for this thought". Thus he explicitly states, ' I have no choice but to conclude that the mere fact of my existing is and of there being in me an idea of a

The most influential version of the moral argument for belief in God can be traced to Kant (1788 [1956]), who famously argued that the theoretical arguments for God 's existence were unsuccessful, but presented a rational argument for belief in God as a “postulate of practical reason.” Kant held that a rational, moral being must necessarily will “the highest good,” which consists of a world in which people are both morally good and happy, and in which moral virtue is the condition for happiness. The latter condition implies that this end must be sought solely by moral action. However, Kant held that a person cannot rationally will such an end without believing that moral actions can successfully achieve such an end, and this requires a belief that the causal structure of nature is conducive to the achievement of this end by moral means. This is equivalent to belief in God, a moral being who is ultimately responsible for the character of the natural world. Kant 's arguments will be discussed later in