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Descartes Cosmological Argument

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The existence of God is a highly debatable topic; the different views of believers, atheists and agnostics, show us that God's Existence remains a question with no definite final answer. Descartes is one of many philosophers who tried to establish a number of arguments in order to prove God's Existence. In fact, the French philosopher formulated the "trademark argument", an argument that he developed and defended in order to prove that God does exist despite the doubt that many have. In the first place, I will start by defining the trademark argument and the procedure Descartes used to attain it including the first principle summarized in the Cartesian method and the theory of ideas which puts God at the origin of the idea of His Existence. Then, I will divide the argument into its main components: the ontological part and the cosmological part; I will explain first how he used the concept of clearness and distinction to show that God is a necessary Being by making a transition from epistemology to ontology. Next, I will explain the cosmological part of Descartes' argument where he used the "causal adequacy principle" and the "preservation argument". Later, I …show more content…

According to Feser, Descartes meant by his argument that God has implanted in us the idea of his own Existence, using a well-structured a priori argument that is an argument derived from well-established premises. In fact, "God's presence in the mind constitutes a kind of divine signature or trademark, and therefore shows that God exists" (Feser). The fact that Descartes has an idea that God has implanted in him represents the signature left by the creator and therefore supports God's Existence. In fact, Descartes managed to show that God's Existence in the Human mind is an innate idea. The French philosopher cleared the ground for a well-defined trademark argument by establishing well-structured

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Taylor Walton Ms. Krishna NBE3U1 - 04 17 April 2023 Unity in Waubgeshig Rice’s Moon of the Crusted Snow: A Communities Importance to Survival Having a sense of community is a powerful asset to life. The strength and unity of an environment can act as the difference between life and death. In Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice, a small Anishabee community living on a reservation outside the city battles a harsh winter causing a power outage that transforms their way of life. The community experiences various losses and becomes exposed to non-Anishnabeg newcomers; this forces them to adapt to multiple changes and obstacles in their way, by working together and staying true to their culture. Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice

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In Meditation Five of Meditations on First Philosophy, René Descartes makes his argument for a supreme being, which he refers to as “God.” Descartes creates his argument based on the two premises that 1) if a supreme being exists, then it must hold all perfections, and that 2) existence is a perfection. These two premises lead to the conclusion that a supreme being does indeed exist, and in response to this argument, I will provide a counterexample, as well as the response that Descartes would likely provide to this objection. To begin his argument, Descartes first leads readers into his line of thinking in order that they might understand the possibility of the existence of a supreme being. Throughout his argument, Descartes relies on

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However, Descartes is indeed certain of the fact that he is a thinking being, and that he exists. As a result of this argument, Descartes makes a conclusion that the things he perceives clearly and distinctly cannot be false, and are therefore true (Blanchette). This clear and distinct perception is an important component to the argument that Descartes makes in his fifth meditation for the existence of God. This paper explains Descartes ' proof of God 's existence from Descartes ' fifth meditation, Pierre Gassendi 's objection to this proof, and then offers the paper 's author 's opinion on both the proof and objection.

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Anselm’s argument is based on this known definition of the concept of God alone. Descartes’ argument for the existence of God is based on his foundation of knowledge, logic. Humans have the idea in their minds of infinite perfection. Humans also have the idea of themselves as inferior to this idea as imperfect. For humans to have the idea of infinite perfection, there must be truth in the reason for them having this idea.

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To some degree, I believe that Descartes did confirm God’s existence, when one takes into consideration of the arguments that were presented and the limitations that were placed on the Meditator. For instance, when the Meditator was attempting to prove God’s existence by demonstrating that God does not depend on the existence of a substance, considering that God holds perfection in sovereignty and knowledge, which the idea of God could not be invented by the imagination or brought from the material world. This type of analysis was centered on the Meditator’s intellectual judgement, so that the Meditator could attain a clear and distinct idea of God by relying on the mind alone, since the Meditator understands that adventitious and factitious

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Descartes gave a few arguments that God exists and is real. Desocrates believed our idea of God is that God is a perfect being, he believed he is more perfect to exist than not to exist. Desocrates also believed that God is a infinite being. Descartes idea would be that God gave us this idea to type this paragraph about him so he must be real. When he thinks negative of an idea or thought he wonders if an evil demon plotted those thoughts.

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We know clear and distinct perceptions independently by God, and his existence provides us with a certainty we might not possess otherwise. However, another possible strategy would be to change Gods role in Descartes philosophy. Instead of seeing God as the validation of clear and distinct perceptions, rather see him as a safeguard against doubt. This strategy, however, is a problem since it re-constructs the Meditations – Philosophical work of Descartes –.This is because it would not be God, who is the ultimate foundation of knowledge, but the clear and distinct

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Firstly, the possibility of the idea originating from nothing is ruled out for obvious reasons, as Nolan and Nelson highlight how ‘nothing’ does not posses the ability to cause, as it does not contain any properties and the effect cannot have more reality than the cause (Nolan and Nelson, 2006:108). Furthermore, as humankind are imperfect beings, Nolan and Nelson state that as we are finite beings we cannot conjure the idea of a more perfect and infinite being ourselves (Nolan and Nelson, 1996:110). Therefore, Descartes argues that this leaves only the possibility that an infinite being could cause the idea of an infinite being to exist innately within the mind of the finite cogito, like ‘the mark of a craftsmen stamped on his work’ (Descartes, 1996:35). Moreover, Descartes further believes that it would be impossible to exist with the idea of God, if God did not exist, and that this God could not be one that

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The argument for God’s existence is that God is a perfect being, he is infinite, independent, supremely intelligent, and supremely powerful. Descartes goes on to talk about how God exists because he can conceive of him as better than himself (AD 40). God is perfect and perfect at everything, and was the first thing that sent everything into motion (AD 45). God is the ultimate cause.

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In this paper, I will deliver a reconstruction of Descartes’ Cogito Argument and my reasoning to validate it as indubitable. I will do so by justifying my interpretations through valid arguments and claim, by showcasing examples with reasoning. Rene Descartes is a French Philosopher of the 17th century, who formulated the philosophical Cogito argument by the name of ‘cogito ergo sum,’ also known as “I think, therefore, I am.” Rene was a skeptic philosopher amongst many scholastic philosophers at his time. He took a skeptical approach towards the relations between thoughts and existence, to interpret his cogito argument as indubitable and whether it could serve as a foundational belief.

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The Trademark Argument The Trademark Argument is a concept created by French philosopher René Descartes as a way to try and prove the existence of a God. He argues that our creator has stamped its 'trademark' (the idea of its existence) in our minds to allow us to have a concept of God, this argument is found in Meditation III. Analysis: René Descartes' argument for the existence of God is a relatively unique one, presuming nothing more than what is already believed to be true by people, at the time it was thought of; the idea of their own existence and the presence of an infinite being. Descartes argues that every idea must have a cause.

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In Newton’s first law, he explains the law of inertia by stating that an object at rest stays at rest unless acted upon by an outside force. This law can be applied on a wider scale to the creation of the universe because put simply, in a chain of events, there must be a beginning that acts as the catalyst to the entire sequences of occurrences. The cosmological argument rests on the first event in the history of the universe because that initial beginning dictates whether there exists a self-existent being. The universe is filled with dependent beings but for those beings to be capable of existing, they are contingent on the existence of an uncaused cause.

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There have been an innumerable amount of arguments for the existence of God for hundreds of years. Some have become much more popular due to their merit, and their ability to stay relevant through changing times. Two arguments in particular that have been discussed for a very long time are the ontological and cosmological arguments. Each were proposed in the period of the high middle ages by members of the Roman Catholic Church. They each have been used extensively by many since their introduction.

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Therefore,the would mean you would have to consider the thought of God to be false until you prove other wise. Descartes believes that the idea of God cannot be originated by himself so, God must be the cause of this

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St. Anselm and Descartes are known for presenting the first ontological arguments on the existence of God. The word ontological is a compound word derived from ‘ont’ which means exists or being and ‘–ology’ which means the study of. Even though Anselm and Descartes’ arguments differ slightly, they both stem from the same reasoning. Unlike the other two arguments on God’s existence (teleological and cosmological), the ontological argument does not seek to use any empirical evidence but rather concentrates on pure reason. The rationale behind this school of thought

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