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Descartes Fourth Meditation Analysis

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Descartes expounds upon the concept of error and its correlation to free will among humans and to the entity God in one of his passages, “Fourth Meditation.” He has proclaimed the existence of God in his previous meditation and further questions the perfection of humans and the issue with error. Humans, as the creation of God, should not be committing mistakes due to the claim that God is an all-perfect being and is not a deceiver. However, Descartes understands that humans are prone to error despite having an infinite will that would supposedly prevent them from doing any wrong. The philosopher therefore proclaims that error is a result from humans who attempt to utilize their knowledge and will simultaneously, which will result in mistakes. …show more content…

Descartes states with clarity that it does not seem possible for him to “to discover the [impenetrable] purposes of God” due to being in a state that does not reach God’s infinity (111). Being in a realm where nothingness does promote error, it is plausible that we have yet to acclaim knowledge or a true source that could help us understand God’s reasons behind our imperfect creation. Descartes narrows down the central concept to two faculties: the power of knowing (intellect) and the power of choice (free will). He understands that free will is the known infinite faculty, so our intellect is what determines our state of finity. Our knowledge is limited in comparison to God, and because of it, we are unable to give our full judgement to what God has committed because we do not understand its purpose in relation to its function in the world. Descartes claims that if one “abstain from making a judgement upon a topic when [one] do not conceive it sufficiently clearly and distinctly,” they can avoid committing error (115). Mistakes come from actions that are fueled by insufficient understanding or knowledge of a subject, which result in the improper use of free will. Since many humans do not understand this factor and continue to judge concepts (much like the existence of God itself), many of use continue to commit error despite knowing that we do not have sufficient information to backup our

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Descartes writes that as we were created in God’s image, we are “something intermediate between God and nothingness, or between supreme being and non-being” (38). As Descartes states that we are imperfect beings, we will undoubtedly have defects (37). These defects reside in our faculty of knowledge, our intellect, and the faculty of choice, our will (39). The intellect allows us to perceive and understand ideas and the will simply consisting of the ability to affirm, deny, pursue or avoid a choice (39). Believing that the source of human error was due to the varying scope of our will and intellect, Descartes explains how as God’s intellect is infinite, he can always will what is “Good” due to knowing everything (39).

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Descartes sees this potential progress becoming actuality. He says it is a finite but limited path and that he is in a state of developing towards Him and when God created the world; He had a purpose and an aim. God is outside of time so He is not in a state of potentiality, because potentiality is always in a time and space. This quote introduces the argument of potency versus actuality. Descartes’ comparison of himself to God opens up many other questions that request Descartes attention, and he attempts to reason with the reader in the following explanations.

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Descartes then attempts to define what he is. He previously believed that he had a spirit and body, by methods for which he was fed, moved, could sense, absorb space, had a distinct area and think. Each one of those methods are thrown into uncertainty except thinking. Since he can think, he should exist. He thinks about whether he no longer exists once his reasoning comes to a halt.

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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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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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Consequently, when Descartes is wrong, it is not because of God, it is because he isn’t God and lacks perfection. Descartes says we are capable of mistakes because God didn’t make us perfect like himself and our ability to make mistakes might play a small role in the larger scheme of things. God could have made us perfect but he chose not to by giving us free will and letting us make wrong judgements that could lead us further from the truth. I may not believe his reasoning but he tries to be as thorough as possible but his point doesn’t make a lot sense because he thinks that God could have made him perfect and chose not

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In Meditation on First Philosophy, Descartes states that the realities he believed to be certain during his young years have been false. Which therefore causes him to embark on the journey to destroy all the opinions he had believed as the truth, and accept only those claims that are certain, firm, and permanent in the sciences. Deconstructing these pre-conceptions requires a process of methodological doubt where he withdraws from the senses; that “all that up to the present time [he has] accepted as most true and certain I have learned either from the senses or through the senses; but it has sometimes proved that these senses are deceptive” (Descartes, 1-7). Descartes believes that at any moment, he could be dreaming, or his sense deceived by God or an evil demon. He ascertains his own existence through a clear and distinct perception guaranteed by God.

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Meditation is the introspective process that involves the mind turning back in and upon itself, removing itself from the material world and focusing its attention inward. Descartes employs meditation to detach the minds from external influences, to think and analyze philosophy from the original foundations. This brings us to Descartes First Meditation, with the introduction of the method of doubt, he presents his philosophical project and claims that in order to complete his project he needs to question the truth behind all his beliefs. He attempts to accomplish this impossible feat because as he’s aged he has realized the false foundations that he has held onto thus far and the ideas he’s built on them. To be able to tear down these beliefs,

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Descartes is concerned with the nature of human free will and understanding this in the context of his understanding of God. In his Meditations, Descartes concludes that God could never trick or deceive him, but he also understands that human beings are often prone to error. This creates something of a conundrum for Descartes that he seeks to explain in his Fourth Meditation. Namely, how can one reconcile the idea of human error with the concepts of the perfections of God? “If everything that is in me I got from God, and he gave me no faculty for making mistakes, it seems I am incapable of ever erring.”

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Descartes believes, though that, the senses can fail him, and could be the evil genius trying to trick him, therefore, he cannot rely on his senses. The idea that the senses fail man directly contradicts Pope John Paul’s stance that man looks outward to creation, and the world around him, to finally use that understanding to know himself. Meanwhile, Descartes looks solely

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Descartes writes that his first objective is to find one certain, indubitable belief, that he could further use to build all his prospective knowledge. The First Meditation alone already distinguished Descartes as an important advocate for the theory of knowledge of foundationalism, and as a remarkable adherent of scepticism as a method. Descartes, in the First Meditation, outlined various arguments through which he tries to call all his previous beliefs into doubt. In the first paragraphs of this meditation, he writes how he was suddenly

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The next step that Descartes uses in the second meditation is the existence of this Godly figure. He questions his own beliefs with that of the God, and argues that a mind should be capable of thinking for them to be of existence, “Is there not some God, or some other being by whatever name we call it, which puts these reflections into my mind? That is not necessary, for is it not possible that I am capable of producing them myself?” He then puts forward that for one to be deceived by this “evil demon” as he describes it, they have to exist to be deceived.

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