Descartes' Views On God

Paper Summary:

His ontological argument (a priori) and 'a posteriori demonstration of God's existence. Concept of perfection. Proofs of God's existence. Examining the reality of God. Descartes' belief in God the Giver and Creator. Free will of man as proof. Differences between existence of God & essence of God. Flaws in Descartes' reasoning.

From the Paper:

"Descartes and God

More consequences for thought and action follow from the affirmation or denial of God than from answering any other basic question (Hutchins 543). It is a fact that, long before Descartes, Man often thought of himself as the supreme being of the Universe, and still obedient to, or believing in, or trusting some superhuman Being called God.

While for millennia, philosophers have debated the idea or ideas of God, Descartes states that ONE idea alone, becomes the basis for such an inference. He supplements his a priori or ontological argument with what he calls a posteriori demonstration of God s existence from the mere idea that God exists in us (Hutchins 554). God exists, Descartes writes, because He possesses every sort of perfection (and) existence is one of them "

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