Descartes’ Philosophy: Mind, Body, and the Existence of God
Problems of Solipsism
If we affirm that our own existence is based on our thinking, we can only guarantee it from within. We cannot say anything beyond that which is within us. Four themes appear in this uncertainty:
- The existence of the body.
- The existence of the world.
- The existence of other minds.
- The validity of mathematical truths.
Body and Soul
Descartes identified the soul as a substance. A substance is a reality that remains after change and is independent of anything else. What defines the self as a substance is thinking, that is, consciousness. The self can be conceived without the body but not without thinking.
Understanding Within
Evidence of knowledge of the self is greater than that of the body.
Differences Between Mind and Body
Mind and body are opposed:
- Mind: Thinking, indivisible, free.
- Body: Divisible, unthinking, a machine.
The outstanding issue for Descartes is relating the mind and body.
Proofs of God’s Existence
Argument from Perfection
The idea of perfection must have come to me from God because I am imperfect, yet I have the idea of a “perfect being.” This idea cannot come from nothing, nor from myself, because I am imperfect. It must have been placed in me by a perfect being, and that is God.
Ontological Argument
The idea of God is that of a perfect being. I have the idea of a perfect being. That idea includes the existence of that being; therefore, God, who is a perfect being, exists.
Descartes compares the mathematical truths of God’s existence, which he defines as equally evident. However, he differs in that mathematical objects do not imply existence, whereas God and the self do.
The Meaning of God in Descartes
When asking the question of whether God exists, what is being asked is whether there is something different from me. All I can say with certainty is that I exist. The question is whether there is any idea that corresponds to an external reality, excluding ideas whose cause could be me.
The Idea of God
The idea of God is the idea sought. This idea has the virtue of leading us to a reality beyond ourselves, which is the existence of God.
Contrast in Descartes’ Philosophy
Descartes, who assumes nothing, surprisingly accepts the proof of the existence of God.
The Necessity of God
The figure of God in Descartes is a necessity, a tribute he has to pay for his excesses in the process of doubt. God exists to get rid of the “evil genius.”
Knowledge of God
Some find it difficult to know God because they want to use their imagination and senses. The idea of God comes from experience, and as something new, it is obscured by images of sensible things.
Historical Context of Descartes
Descartes is the first great philosopher of modern times, the founder of rationalism. To understand this, we must deeply analyze what it means to be in modern times. Modern times are defined as the period when:
- Science separates from philosophy. This separation creates a dangerous spread of human knowledge.
- Physics has found the hypothetical-deductive method, in which sensory experience is essential as a point of departure and arrival.
- The conception of a finite, geocentric universe is replaced by the concept of an infinite, heliocentric universe, where man is no longer the center.