Descartes' Argument for God's Existence

Paper Summary:

While no argument for or against the existence of a higher power will successfully convince members of the other theological camp to its supposed truth, Descartes' "Third Meditation" remains a very skillful, well orchestrated defense of the author's beliefs. This paper points out that an exercise in logic, Descartes' argument for the existence of God is also an excellent example. It explains that the work progresses from the basic to the complex, uses analogies from the readers' experience, anticipates and addresses readers' possible objections and uses such classic methods as cause and effect, negative logic through absences and the need for absolutes.

From the Paper:

"The existence of a divine being, namely God, has challenged philosophers, writers, theologians, and other thinkers for millennia; often individuals have, after struggling with exhaustive arguments about a source of immaculate virtue or a prime mover, merely shrugged their shoulders and claimed that the best defense for believing in a higher power is 'personal faith.' Atheists have long rejoiced in this supposed inability to prove God's existence objectively and have often placed their belief in science, with its reliance on axioms, proofs, and purely empirical evidence. Yet how accurate is science? Medical knowledge of the seventeenth century, with its notions of humors and effluvia, has been largely disproved, much like the racially-based biological and genetic theories of the early twentieth century. In addition to being required to constantly undergo modification or rejection, scientific theories often rely on faith; for example, nuclear physics purports the existence of quarks, but no naked eye has ever seen one. While the debate between religion and science has become quite heated, especially since the eighteenth century Enlightenment, French philosopher Rene Descartes penned his Third Meditation in 1637, arguing very convincingly for the existence of God. Indeed, Descartes' argument, relying on notions of the source of inner ideas, cause and effect, and objective perfection, gives reason for theists to applaud and atheists to perhaps rethink their position on the God question."

More papers on Descartes' Argument for God's Existence:

• Comparison Essay # 87470 : "The Philosophical Argument for God"
• Essay # 64906 : "St. Anselm's Argument for the Existence of God"
• Analytical Essay # 121957 : "Descartes' "Meditations"

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