In Meditation Five, “Concerning the Essence of Material Things, and Again Concerning God, That He Exists,” Descartes goes on to give another proof for the existence of God and thus he wants to prove that everything depends upon God. He argues that there are certain things that are unquestionable, such as the fact that a triangle has three sides and its three angles are equal to two right angles. Similarly the idea of God is as of a creature that is perfect, all knowing, all powerful, and good, which follows that it is impossible for a perfect entity to be non-existent, for that would mean the imperfection. He further affirms that he cannot think of God except as of something existing which means that existence is inseparable from God, and for this very reason he really exists. Descartes states that everything is dependent upon God, because once he realized that there is God, and that everything else depends upon him, and that he is not a deceiver, he concluded that all things which he clearly and distinctly perceives have to be true, because of their connection to God.

His sixth meditation is called “Concerning the Existence of Material Things, and the Real Distinction between Mind and Body,” in which the author tries to bring an end to the doubts that actually led him to look for truth. He says that it is evident that he has ability of sensing, of receiving and knowing the ideas of sensible things. However he could not use that ability unless it is existent. He reasons that something physical or material must be causing the ideas and that this something is a body, which is distinct from the mind. In addition and also in conclusion of the paper he states that his “nature” given to humans by God instructs him that he has a body, which senses things such as heat and pain. Further, his nature teaches him that there is a connection between his mind and his body and therefore, there is a union between mind and body, although they are different things because mind is indivisible, un- extended, and thinking, while the body is divisible, extended, and unthinking.

Page 3 of 3 :: First | Last :: Prev | 1 2 3 | Next