Descartes’ Proof of God and Cartesian Ontology
Second Argument
The second argument starts with the same point but does not ask for the cause of the idea, but for the sake of the mind that thinks. The cause of my being has to live up to the idea of being infinite. I have not given it to be that I am an imperfect being. And my being is able to think about being perfect, but perfection is only able to think of the perfect being, but only the perfect can give me being. The cause of my being must be equal to the infinite. Then the infinite being exists and is my cause.
Third Argument
The third argument is directly taken from San Anselmo. In the idea of God (being perfect), real existence is necessarily included. It is a logical necessity. Being perfect is a must for perfection to exist, as the perfect being exists.
The demonstration of God will recover, discarding the existence of the outside world and, with it, the possibility of truth.
Consequences of the Demonstration of God
There is only the spirit, but there is also a God. Being infinite is incompatible with deception, which always depends on some defect, and being infinite cannot have them, so I am not deceived. It means that God created me with a nature irresistibly inclined to believe that my perceptions are of real external objects. If those things were not real, God would be deceiving. But God cannot deceive me, so the world is also real, as if the world is impossible to speak of truth in thought. Descartes had established that clarity and distinctness are the two characteristics of true ideas, but truth requires correspondence between thought and reality. Then, as the evil genius does not let the world talk of reality, clarity and distinctness only guaranteed certainty, which is not the same as truth because you can be sure of something false.
That clarity and distinction have been necessary to apply to find objective truth.
Cartesian Ontology: Substances
A clear idea is an idea intuited (immediate grasp, obvious). The criterion of clarity is inseparable from the priority that God gives knowledge, addressing the complex from the simple.
An idea is different when it occurs before the mind, clearly separated from any other idea. When we handle complex thought contents, clarity and distinction are difficult. He recommends discarding the analysis. Decompose complex knowledge to reach their final simple components, which take the maximum clarity and distinction and therefore be captured by the spirit with complete evidence. All prior work of the theory of knowledge makes it possible for Descartes, finally, to develop metaphysics, an ontology.
Cartesian ontology is built on the concept of substance. Descartes defines it dangerously: “that to which should be by itself, so that one does not need to be.” This definition is only suitable for God. Other things are substance by analogy with God. There are three substances to discard:
- The spirit, essence, or attribute whose property is thought. Each attribute, in turn, is likely to be asked in different ways. The modes of thought are all phenomena of inner experience, especially those ideas.