Meditations on False Philosophy

Meditations on False Philosophy

RenÐ"© Descartes, also known as Cartesius, is hailed as the founder of Western Philosophy by modern thinkers and followers alike. In one of his most famous works entitled Meditations on First Philosophy, Descartes reveals his philosophical ideas through the main character, the meditator. The meditator reflects upon that which it knows to realize that in order to accurately obtain truth one must forget all of its pre-conceived notions through methodological doubt. Understanding this concept, the meditator hopes to find knowledge within the most basic truths, building upon these truths with others until it has come to a state of full awareness. This full sense of awareness is characterized by the understanding of the existence or non-existence of itself, God, and the material world which it perceives through its senses. In Meditations on First Philosophy, Descartes' proof of the existence of God lacks sufficient supporting evidence and relies on the willingness of the reader to make a "leap of faith" in order to accept his claims.

At the beginning of this work, the meditator comes to the conclusion that by doubting all ideas, thoughts, and beliefs that are not grounded in absolute and inherent truth, it can create a foundation of pure truth upon which to build its knowledge. The meditator then hopes to obtain full awareness of itself, God, and the world around it by constructing its knowledge upon this foundation of truth. Next, the meditator proves its own existence upon the grounds that it doubts its existence, its doubt is thought, and one can only think if one exists; therefore the meditator must exist. The meditator's existence, now, is that of a purely thinking entity or "cogito". The meditator then concludes that its existence as the cogito is a clear and distinct perception, and if God is good and non-deceptive, then all things which are clearly and distinctly perceived by the cogito must be true. Thus, the meditator must first prove God's existence and that God's nature is to be good and non-deceptive in order to further expand its growing knowledge.

In the Third Meditation: The Existence of God, Descartes' first attempt to prove the existence and benevolence of God begins with the meditator first assuming that God is the opposite of his perception. It assumes that God is, in fact, an evil genius whose only goal is to deceive the meditator about all that it believes to be true. Thus, in doubting all things the meditator believes to be true, the cogito will avoid falling into the deception created by the evil genius. By doubting all that it knows, the meditator can no longer count on its thoughts as resembling that which is "real" and tangible outside its mind. By following this path, the cogito surely cannot falter in its logic. To disprove the "evil genius theory", the meditator explains that it clearly and distinctly perceives God as good, and therefore, God does not deceive him, because that which is clearly and distinctly perceived must be true.

Descartes further solidifies his proof of the existence of God in stating that things with a given quantity of objective reality can only come about as a result of something with, at the very least, the same amount of formal reality. More simply, the idea of a perfect, omnipotent, omniscient God could have come from nothing less than a perfect, omnipotent, omniscient being. In support, the meditator states that "because [the idea of God] is the most clear and distinct and because it contains more objective reality than any other idea, no idea is in and of itself truer and has less of a basis for being suspected of falsehood. I maintain that this idea of a being that is supremely perfect and infinite is true in the highest agree," (Cahn 471). The meditator concludes that, consequently, "the mere fact of my existing and of there being in me an idea of a most perfect being, that is, God, demonstrates most evidently that God too exists." (Cahn 472). Again, Descartes gives further evidence to support God's existence.

Toward the end of the third meditation, the meditator states that "the mere fact that God created me makes it highly plausible that I have somehow been made in his image and likeness, and that I perceive this likeness, in which the idea of God is contained, by means of the same faculty by which I perceive myself," (Cahn 472). This is a very powerful and bold statement by Descartes', through the meditator, claiming that Descartes himself is made in the likeness of God and therefore, can perceive God in the same way he perceives himself. Believing in these ideas, Descartes is claiming that he actually possesses characteristics and traits similar to those of God, and as a result can perceive and relate to this supreme being on a level similar to that which he relates to himself. Although this representation of God seems well grounded and based upon pure truth, Descartes makes several assumptions to come to the conclusion that god exists. Hence, his claim is not proof, but merely opinion, requiring the reader to make a leap of faith to accept his testimony.

Descartes' first mistake is that he presupposes all of his clear and distinct perceptions are true, concluding that God must exist. This is merely a supposition because Descartes disregards the possibility that the "evil genius" could be deceiving him of all things, including free will, and clear and distinct perceptions. If there truly were a deceiving all powerful evil genius misleading Descartes, he would not be able to prove its existence or non-existence because his thoughts could merely be a product of the illusions created by the evil genius. Consequently, he cannot dismiss the theory of the "evil genius" using this path of logic. In addition, Descartes proves his own existence as the cogito upon the grounds that it is a clear and distinct perception, which is guaranteed to be true if God does not deceive him. He later proves that God must exist because it is a clear and distinct perception, and if the cogito exists,