Awais Maqbool Philosophy Mrs.

Fakher Ahmed

Q. How does Descartes proves the existence of God ?

Many readers follow Descartes with fascination and pleasure as he descends into the pit of skepticism in the first two
Meditations, defeats the skeptics by finding the a version of the cogito, his nature, and that of bodies, only to find them selves
baffled and repulsed when they come to his proof for the existence of God in Meditation III. In large measure this change of
attitude results from a number of factors. One is that the proof is complicated in ways which the earlier discourse is not. Second
is that the complications include the use of scholastic machinery for which the reader is generally quite unprepared -- including
such doctrines as a Cartesian version of the Great Chain of Being, the Heirloom theory of causaltiy, and confusi ng terms such as
"eminent," "objective" and "formal reality" used in technical ways which require explanation. Third, we live in an age which is
largely skeptical of the whole enterprise of giving proofs for the existence of God. A puzzled student once remaked, "If it were
possible to prove that God exists, what would one need faith for?" So, even those inclined to grant the truth of the conclusion
of Descartes' proof are often skeptical about the process of reaching it.

Following points proves the existence of god

 LEADING UP TO THE PROOF

 Determining the Kinds of Ideas and their relation to truth and falsity
 More real
 The Great Chain of Being
 Representation -- Am I alone?
 Reconstructing the Argument
 Descartes also explains that the idea of perfect being is derived from God. God is perfect Being from which all things
derive their reality.
 idea of God as Infinite Being could not occur in the finite mind of a human being unless God really In the Third
Meditation, Descartes offers a proof for the existence of God, arguing that the existed. The idea of God as Infinite
Being is an innate idea in the human mind, an idea which cannot be created by any finite being. This perfect idea can
only be created by God.
 Descartes argues that in God perfection is actually existent, rather than potentially existent. The idea of God cannot
be caused by something which is merely potentially existent, but only by an actually existing reality.
 Descartes also argues that God is Absolute Being. Nothingness is Non-Being. Reality depends for its being on God.
Truth is the degree to which an idea corresponds to reality. Error is the degree to which an idea does not correspond
to reality.
 Descartes explains that in order to determine the truth of an idea, we must determine to what degree the idea
corresponds to reality. Human susceptibility to error is caused by the fact that we, as human beings, do not have an
unlimited ability to recognize the truth, and by the fact that we are free to choose either truth or falsehood.
 According to Descartes, God is perfect and is not the cause of any error. When we think of God, we find no cause of
error or falsehood. The reason why we doubt the truth is that we are incomplete in our ability to recognize the truth.
We depend for our existence on God, who is complete and independent.

1|Page
Awais Maqbool Philosophy Mrs.Fakher Ahmed

Q. what is Cartesian Doubt ?

Cartesian doubt is a form of philosophical skepticism associated with methodology of the writings of

Descartes.

“Cogito ergo sum”, which means “I think, therefore I am”. This is most famous Latin quote that Descartes introduced upon the
development of modern philosophy. Descartes was born in Touraine, France on March 31, 1596. He became one of the most
influential thinkers and some deem him as the father of modern philosophy. Descartes was such an achiever in mathematics to
the extent of even inventing analytical geometry in attempt to seek out full truth, which devised some simple universal laws
since then have governed all physical change. Descartes was one of the first unarguable philosophers to actually try and defeat
skepticism. He had views far beyond any philosopher of his time on relationships between mind and body, knowledge, and
certain truth. He was a “jack of all trades” making contributions to mathematics, philosophy, anatomy, optics, and cognitive
sciences. The methodology underlying that is his belief that all science is based solely on mathematics. This manifested his
unification of ancient geometry and his new algebra based on the Cartesian coordinate system.

 I Am, I Exist(cogito ergo sum0)

 In the First Meditation, Descartes asserts that there is nothing about which it is impossible to doubt. But he argues
that: ‘even if I doubt everything, I cannot doubt that I am doubting.’ Thus, ‘I cannot doubt that I exist.’
 For Descartes, the essence of human existence is that ‘I am a thinking thing.’ To think is to exist. To be a human being
is to be capable of thinking. Furthermore, ‘my consciousness of my own thinking means that I am conscious of my
own existence.’
 Descartes argues that the idea of something which exists must be caused by something which exists. Something
which exists cannot be caused by something which does not exist. Something which is merely potentially existent
cannot be a cause of the existence of anything. A thing or being must have some actual or formal existence in order to
cause another thing or being to exist.
 Descartes also argues that for any relation of cause and effect to occur between events or things, the cause must
have at least as much reality as the effect. A cause cannot be less real than its effect, because the cause is what gives
reality to the effect. Thus, there must be a First Cause from which all things derive their reality. The First Cause is that
from which all things derive their reality.
 According to Descartes, the more perfect that something is, the more real that it is. The cause of an effect must be at
least as perfect as the effect. An effect may be less perfect than its cause, but a cause cannot be less perfect than its
effect.
 Perceptual Illusion
 I Am a Thinking Thing
 An initial consequence may be drawn directly from the intuitive certainty of the cogito itself. If I know that I am,
Descartes argued, I must also know what I am; an understanding of my true nature must be contained implicitly in the
content of my awareness.
 He Doubts every thing

2|Page
Awais Maqbool Philosophy Mrs.Fakher Ahmed

Q . How does Descartes explains the Mind and Body with the help of his theory of two clocks?

In philosophy, any theory that mind and body are distinct kinds of substances or natures. This position implies that mind and
body not only differ in meaning but refer to different kinds of entities. Thus, a dualist would oppose any theory that identifies
mind with the brain, conceived as a physical mechanism.

Rene Descartes is widely regarded as the originator of modern philosophy. He also laid the foundations for modern science. But
despite his innovatory ideas about the physical world, he never doubted that conscious minds exist on a separate, non-physical
level. Descartes was a dualist. He thought that there are two separate but interacting realms, the mental and the material.

“Descartes had raised the question of the relationship of mind to the brain and nervous system”

 A person is made of two different substances: mind and body.

 It was the view of Socrates and Plato, was championed by Descartes, and seems basic to religions that believe in
Descartes suggested that the pineal gland is "the seat of the soul" for several reasons.mmortality.
 Body works like a machine.
 The mind or soul on the other hand, was described as a nonmaterial entity that lacks extension and motion, and does
not follow the laws of physics. Descartes argued that only humans have minds, and that the mind interacts with the
body at the pineal gland. This form of dualism or duality proposes that the mind controls the body,
 In this work, Descartes proposed a mechanism for automatic reaction in response to external events.

 According to his proposal, external motions affect the peripheral ends of the nerve fibrils, which in turn displace the
central ends. As the central ends are displaced, the pattern of interfibrillar space is rearranged and the flow of animal
spirits is thereby directed into the appropriate nerves. It was Descartes' articulation of this mechanism for automatic,
differentiated reaction that led to his generally being credited with the founding of reflex theory.

 Although extended discussion of the metaphysical split between mind and body did not appear until Descartes'
Meditationes, his De homine outlined these views and provided the first articulation of the mind/body interactionism
that was to elicit such pronounced reaction from later thinkers. In Descartes' conception, the rational soul, an entity
distinct from the body and making contact with the body at the pineal gland, might or might not become aware of the
differential outflow of animal spirits brought about through the rearrangement of the interfibrillar spaces. When such
awareness did occur, however, the result was conscious sensation -- body affecting mind. In turn, in voluntary action,
the soul might itself initiate a differential outflow of animal spirits. Mind, in other words, could also affect body.

 Brain serves as the organ of mind.

 Man acts through Pineal glands(Descartes thought that mind and matter interact in the pineal gland. This is a pea-
sized organ in the human brain, situated beneath the corpus callosum, whose function is still not fully understood. It
is also the only symmetrical organ in the brain without a left and right counterpart.)

 Matter in Motion :(Descartes' view of the material world was itself very austere, quite different from previous views,
and indeed from much subsequent thinking. He assumed that the material realm contains nothing but matter in
motion, and that all action is by contact. (Colours, sounds, smells and so on, are not really in the objects themselves,
but are impressions produced in us by the action of material particles on our sense organs. )

3|Page