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Descartes Argumentative Essay

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Firstly, Lloyd illustrates how Descartes adapted reason into a methodical thought that he used to attempt to form a rational basis for the belief in God (Lloyd, 1993:39). Descartes mentions in the Meditations dedicatory letter that he believes that for theists it is their faith that holds the rational basis for belief in God, whereas atheists do not have this faith and so it lies in reason to prove that God exists in order to persuade them (Descartes, 1996:3). However, REFERENCE AGAINST THIS POINT
Moreover, from Descartes thoughts on reasoning he stemmed his dualistic view of the body and mind being two separate entities, which Lloyd notes includes the distinction between the rational mind, which Descartes identifies with the soul, and the irrational body (Lloyd, 1993:45). As Descartes has established his dualistic view, he highlights the cogito in his third meditation, …show more content…

Firstly, the possibility of the idea originating from nothing is ruled out for obvious reasons, as Nolan and Nelson highlight how ‘nothing’ does not posses the ability to cause, as it does not contain any properties and the effect cannot have more reality than the cause (Nolan and Nelson, 2006:108). Furthermore, as humankind are imperfect beings, Nolan and Nelson state that as we are finite beings we cannot conjure the idea of a more perfect and infinite being ourselves (Nolan and Nelson, 1996:110). Therefore, Descartes argues that this leaves only the possibility that an infinite being could cause the idea of an infinite being to exist innately within the mind of the finite cogito, like ‘the mark of a craftsmen stamped on his work’ (Descartes, 1996:35). Moreover, Descartes further believes that it would be impossible to exist with the idea of God, if God did not exist, and that this God could not be one that

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