An analysis of philosopher, Rene Descartes’ Meditations on First Philosophy in which he gives proof of God’s existence.
The paper discusses “Meditations on First Philosophy” in which philosopher Rene Descartes uses proof of God’s existence to both confirm and complete his views of nature, the external world, and the validation of reason. The paper shows that Descartes’ arguments in the proof of God’s existence also serve to validate his views of reason and human nature.
As such, Cartesian dualism forms the basis for Descartes proofs of the existence of God. Both the first and second proofs of the existence of God that are discussed in this essay are firmly based in the human mind’s conception of God. In the proof in the Meditations III, Descartes argues that God must exist in order to place the idea of God in the finite minds of humans. In Meditations V, Descartes argues that human ideas of the internal qualities of God, including infinity and independence, could not have originated within the human mind, and thus God must exist to create these ideas.