Descartes :: essays research papers

From Descartes' perspective, nature is a representation of God; therefore, God must intrinsically exist, inasmuch as he, too, is a product of His own creation. Descartes was one of many philosophers who fully supported this argument in support of God's existence, contending that the external world is the ruling force behind the presence of all beings. Descartes' assertions, as portrayed within the literary boundaries of Meditations on First Philosophy, were founded not in cosmological or ontological arguments but rather in teleological debate, inasmuch as the philosopher believed that there has to be an omnipotent entity responsible for all the purpose and order that is found within natural existence and, thereby, stimulating a sense of wonder about the world. One of the primary reasons why Meditation III brings forth such a sense of wonder is because Descartes' philosophical writings followed a very distinctive trail, one that pursued a path of purity and sincerity. He believed deeply in the value of ethics as it related to humans within the natural world, and his concept of forming an adequate ethical code was thought to be the only way in which people could truly base their value system. Within this natural world of which he spoke, Descartes theorized that knowledge was the ultimate controller of the environment, thus supporting the teleological argument as proof of God. He persevered and postulated as to how he could at last seal the overwhelming gap that existed between thought and action. It was through his writings that Descartes exercised the possibility that all thought and action are interconnected, bringing to mind the view of science and how it undoubtedly demonstrated the same evidence. Characteristic of humanity's constant quest for the concept of God's existence, the journey of understanding has come to represent myriad things to myriad people, ultimately rendering any universal explanation virtually impossible. The problem with such sought-after meaning is attempting to successfully pinpoint a single yet comprehensive connotation to its concept; however, this cannot be achieved as long as any two individuals harbor decidedly different interpretations. "I shall now close my eyes, I shall stop my ears, I shall call away all my senses, I shall efface even from my thoughts all the images of corporeal things, or at least (for that is hardly possible) I shall esteem them as vain and false; and thus holding converse only with myself and considering my own nature, I shall try little by little to reach a better knowledge of and a more familiar acquaintanceship with myself" (Descartes PG). Inasmuch as Descartes provides a naturalistic theory for God's existence, which is based upon human nature's philosophical reasoning, this form of mitigated conviction is what essentially supports his stance on God's existence