Descartes Argument for the Existence of God Essay

Descartes employs what is known as an ontological argument to prove the existence of God. Saint Anselm who lived during the 11th century first formulated this type of argument. Since then it has proved popular with many philosophers including Rene` Descartes. Even though ontological arguments have lost popularity with modern philosophers there has been some recent attempts to revive them. Descartes formulation is regarded as being one of the best because it is straight forward and relatively easy to follow. It is also useful when trying to understand Descartes to keep in mind that he talks about two types of existence. There is the normal everyday existence we experience and a special type of existence which he calls, necessary†¦show more content†¦Descartes argues that we can no more imagine God not existing then we can imagine a mountain without a valley. In this analogy Descartes is trying to draw out the distinction between ordinary existence and necessary existence. The idea of a mountain implies a valley. It may be possible to argue that one can imagine a mountain without a valley but such structures do not exist in real life. In the real world mountains and valleys are found together. So mountains imply existence of valleys but unlike the imperfect existence we find in the mountainous world, God’s existence is both perfect and necessary. For Descartes, necessary existence as opposed to ordinary existence is the key. Descartes is pointing out the difference between the existence of God and the existence of a mountain. Finite things, says Descartes, have possible or contingent existence. For example, a finite thing such as a mountain relies on volcanic forces and weathering to bring it in and out of existence. Necessary existence on the other hand is contained in the idea of God. Therefore, God does not need anything to bring him in and out of existence. Descartes goes on to say that if God’s existence was not necessary then he would have to rely on something else to being him in and out of existence. This would mean that God would be neither external to the physical world nor perfect. This is of course isShow MoreRelatedDescartes Argument For God s Existence Of God Essay1103 Words   |  5 Pagespaper, I offer a reconstruction of Descartes argument for God’s existence in the Third Meditation. Descartes tries to prove the existence of God with an argument that proceeds from the clear and distinct idea of an infinite being to the existence of himself. He believes that his clear and distinct idea of an infinite being with infinite â€Å"objective reality† leads to the occurrence of the â€Å"Special Causal Principle†. 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It is here that Descartes argues for the existence of God, through a priori reasoning. In order to understand both the strengths and weakness of this argument, I will first break it down into its main premises. From here, I will argue that despite the simplicity and use of reasoning in the argument, the weaknesses outweigh the strengths, and ultimately that the argument fails. To allow for