The focus of this paper is the Cartesian Circle. There seems to be a circularity in Descartes’ argument regarding the claims of the existence of God. There are philosophers who claim Descartes commits to a belief that has no foundation and because his argument is circular it holds no weight. There are also philosophers who defend Descartes and claim that he does not commit himself to a foundationless belief and that what seems circular isn’t actually circular. I will be supporting the latter argument and I will show that Descartes doesn’t consign to a circular argument but rather gives an argument that both supports his claim about God and shows how his base belief is a solid foundation for other beliefs to be built upon.
I will first give a description of what comes before the Cartesian Circle in the Meditations in order to explain how Descartes came to the argument about God. I will then give an …show more content…
This is when he decides to become more self-aware – the Third Meditation. Here Descartes attempts to regard all images of bodily things as “vacuous, false, and worthless” (Descartes, 87). He decides to attempt this because he believes it will allow him to come to a more intimate understanding of himself which leads to his famously misrepresented phrase “I am a thing that thinks” (Descartes, 87). By this statement Descartes means to say that he is a thing that exists and has some form of thought – experiences doubt, denial, affirmations, understands a few things and remains ignorant of others, has the ability to experience the senses and imagination, and has willingness for some things while maintaining an unwillingness for others. This, however, brings in to question how these modes appear in the mind – they must come from some external source, these ideas came from something,
I will first give a description of what comes before the Cartesian Circle in the Meditations in order to explain how Descartes came to the argument about God. I will then give an …show more content…
This is when he decides to become more self-aware – the Third Meditation. Here Descartes attempts to regard all images of bodily things as “vacuous, false, and worthless” (Descartes, 87). He decides to attempt this because he believes it will allow him to come to a more intimate understanding of himself which leads to his famously misrepresented phrase “I am a thing that thinks” (Descartes, 87). By this statement Descartes means to say that he is a thing that exists and has some form of thought – experiences doubt, denial, affirmations, understands a few things and remains ignorant of others, has the ability to experience the senses and imagination, and has willingness for some things while maintaining an unwillingness for others. This, however, brings in to question how these modes appear in the mind – they must come from some external source, these ideas came from something,