Descartes' Proofs for God's Existence and Divine Truth

Descartes' Arguments for God's Existence

The Causal Argument for God's Existence

This argument rests on two foundational principles:

1. The theory of the objective reality of ideas, which refers to their representative content.
2. The principle that "nothing comes from nothing," asserting that everything has a cause and a consequence.

The objective reality of an idea must have a real cause proportional to that idea. The idea of an infinite being cannot be caused by a finite being; therefore, its existence is inferred.

God as the Cause of My Being

This argument, also rooted in the theory of objective and formal ideas, posits the following: Within my mind, there exists an idea of perfection. If I were the cause of the objective reality of this idea of perfection, my formal reality would need to be proportional to it. However, I am not perfect; I lack many perfections. Therefore, if I possess the idea of perfection but do not embody it, I cannot be the cause of that idea. It follows that the cause of my idea of perfection must be someone as perfect as the idea itself—a being who placed this idea within me, and that being can only be God.

The Ontological Argument for God

Descartes seeks proof of the existence of God from the very idea of God. Saint Anselm states that God must exist not only in thought but also in reality. Descartes arrives at these arguments because his only certainty, as a thinking being, is the existence of ideas and the various kinds of ideas he has discovered.

God as the Guarantee of Truth

For Descartes, God is the ultimate author of all existence. As the Creator, God serves as the guarantee of truth. God is perfect, and a perfect being cannot be deceptive, as error is a flaw. The perfection of God is the source and guarantee of all true knowledge. Since perfection cannot originate from a flaw, any error or confusion in our clear ideas must stem from us, imperfect beings.