1.3.09

Descartes Part 5 - Descartes and God


God became the centerpiece in Descartes reconstruction of reality.

Descartes wanted to reconstruct his world after having boiled all of what he could know with certainty to the conclusion, "I think therefore I am." However, he had to find someway to initiate this process of reconstruction.

"God" became the key for Descartes at this point. He argued that the concept of "God" is unique among all ideas. He used his own version of what came to be known as the Ontological Argument for God's existence.

One of the assumptions that Descartes made was that the lesser couldn't give rise to the great.

He applied this concept to "God."

He contended that the greater must give rise to the lesser. He further contended that he could not do this as a finite being.

The infinite God himself could only have planted this concept of "God" in his mind, Descartes reasoned. When he reflected on his belief that the lesser couldn't give rise to the greater, this confirmed Descartes believe in the existence of God.

Therefore, there was a sort of "self-evidentness" about the idea of God. He deduced that the things that he knew about God, that he is infinite, benevolent, omnipotent, etc, were present in his mind only because God had created him and put those things there.

In addition, God had planted these things within Descartes mind because He was concerned for Descartes wellbeing, particularly his moral wellbeing.

Descartes concluded that if he did his part and genuinely sought the truth and sought clarity regarding the truth, God would honor and validate the things which he was disposed to believe.

I cannot help but wonder if Descartes' conclusions regarding the issue of "God" was not a brilliant political move. Remember that the cultural context in which Descartes found himself consisted of a struggle between the "church" and "science." On the one hand, science, though fragmented in its effort, had concluded that its role was the pursuit of truth and certainty yet could not establish a methodology whereby this certainty could be established. On the other hand, the church had determined that we frail creatures of dust simply cannot know the truth. In addition, the church had control of the institutions of learning in Descartes day, which no doubt posed a problem for the pursuit of truth.

Descartes's political conclusions brought science and the church together in that it provided science a means of pursuing truth and he also provided "God" legitimacy thereby satisfying the church. In short, it seems that Descartes conclusions were not only intellectually satisfying, but also politically brilliant.