Descartes' Discourse On Method, Part 4 (God)

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Asaad Falah
Dr Frederick Monsma
CIV 204
November 5th 2021
Descartes’ Discourse on Method, Part 4 (God)
“When I take note of the fact that I doubt, or that I am a thing that is incomplete and
dependent, there comes to mind a clear and distinct idea of a being that is independent and
complete, that is, an idea of God.” (Meditations On First Philosophy, Meditation 4, page 81),
Descartes states in Part four of Discourse on Method that humans cannot find
perfection in the physical reality that their senses inform them about. The concept of a perfect
and infinite entity must have been conceived by the being itself, namely God, Descartes
reasoned that, since people and the physical universe are finite and imperfect. Descartes must
assume that God exists for him to show that God actually exists, and the fact that Descartes has
a clear perception of God, establishes God’s existence, the belief of God existing and that he
does not deceive, validates Descartes’ clear idea of God.
One of the most important ideas of Descartes is the existence of God, it was discussed in
many of his books such as “Discourse on Methods” and “Meditation on First Philosophy.” In our
book which is “Discourse on Methods”, part four is similar to his other book which is
“Meditation on First Philosophy” where he states that, everything he doubts is false, he also
explains that there are things that are outside of our minds and he bases each claim he makes
on reasonings and experiences. he also states that thoughts, imaginations, ideas, and
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experiences when added all together we get what a human mind is made of. and then he gets
to his famous phrase which is “I am thinking, therefore i am” which translates to thinking is
what indicates that someone is living according to Descartes, he includes that if someone is
thinking it means that they have some type of knowledge, then he adds that he doubts what is
called “demonstrative reasoning” but as long as it is “clear and distinct perception” then it will
be impossible to doubt it. right after that he gets to the point where he proves that God exists
due to the truth of having a clear and distinct perception is something that is deprived from
God and that it is something that is unachievable if God doesn’t exist. Another proof he uses is
that the idea of God is the perfect being only exists because something as perfect as God exists.
In his other book “Meditation on First Philosophy”, he offers a new idea on the existence of God
which is “fictitious and innate” (Descartes, 45). he refuses the idea that God is invented, and he
also states that something cannot come from nothing. he believes that the idea of God that he
created is made of infinitive objective reality but such idea should also have a formal reality,
therefore God being a formal infinitive reality is the source of this idea, and therefore he must
exist. His other idea on God is connected to why he exists. He states that he cannot exist from
nothing, nor can he exist without depending on something, nor can his parents exist for nothing
or without depending on something, he states that everyone must exist for a reason. And
finally, he reaches another point which states that only a perfect being could have been able to
create them and that perfect being is God. He concludes that he cannot have existed without
any plausible reason, therefore, God must exist.

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Descartes provides a simple argument yet so strong to prove God’s existence, however,
I think he needs to provide an easier concept about God’s existence. His current argument is
quite vague and doesn’t really have a thorough explanation of his proof, in certain parts, where
he keeps mentioning that one having a clear idea and perception about a perfect being means
that a perfect being actually exists and that being is God who has put those ideas in our mind.
Descartes’ arguments aren’t that clear and sound forcibly established over the readers, which
can be misunderstood by some of them, not everyone has a clear idea of God, who’s a being of
perfection and its existence, it actually depends on the environment that these people were
raised in, you don’t see people believing in a higher being everywhere and this argument
actually could lead to more confusion and doubts among these people. I do believe in God’s
existence and I have my own reasons and perceptions to do so, and I do believe that Descartes’
idea of God’s existence is a true fact, at least to me, however, he is not using the best
reasonings to prove his argument. I don’t think he has proven God’s existence just by the mere
fact that in order for this argument to be plausible to someone, they first need to have the
belief, that God exists, then what is the point? if someone believes in God’s existence already, I
don’t think they’d need to read about Descartes’ argument, and if the point of the argument
was to prove to people that God actually exists and it’s so easily and obviously believable, then
there wasn’t a need for someone such Descartes here to provide an explanation about God’s
existence. Descartes builds up his arguments about God’s existence in a way that makes it look
easy to believe in God’s existence but that only works for some people and definitely not
everyone, and thus we can understand that it’s not as easy to believe in God’s existence as
Descartes claims it to be. I believe Descartes wasn’t entirely successful in his argument about
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proving that God exists, since he has failed to prove his argument from a logical standpoint. I
think this way of arguing would lead to more arguing, since it doesn’t essentially provide a
robust perception about God and its existence, it’s merely based on facts that support
superstitious and religious beliefs.
In conclusion, Descartes' rationalistic technique has clearly led him out of the slit of
uncertainty. He is now sure that himself as well as God exist. For him, the existence of God is
particularly essential since it freed him from the confines of his thinking. He has now come to
an understanding that something exists that we cannot wrap our heads around. Descartes
develops a set of clear and distinct concepts that, when combined with a clear and distinct
conception of God, allow him to deduce God's existence. And after he's done so, he'll be able to
put an end to the uncertainty and confusion that was formerly supposed to be the work of the
devil, since an even more powerful being exists.

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Works Cited
Descartes René. “Part 4.” Discourse on the Method of Rightly Conducting One's Reason and of
Seeking Truth in the Sciences, 2017.
DESCARTES, RENE. “Meditation 4.” Meditations on First Philosophy, SMK Books, 2018.

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Falah 1

November 5th 2021

Descartes’ Discourse on Method, Part 4 (God)

does not deceive, validates Descartes’ clear idea of God.

any plausible reason, therefore, God must exist.

superstitious and religious beliefs.

devil, since an even more powerful being exists.

Seeking Truth in the Sciences, 2017.

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