“What came next?”
“Descartes now asked himself if there was anything more he could perceive
with the same intuitive certainty.
He came to the conclusion that in his mind he had a clear and distinct idea of a
perfect entity. This was an idea he had always had, and it was thus self-evident to
Descartes that such an idea could not possibly have come from himself. The idea of a
perfect entity cannot have originated from one who was himself imperfect, he
claimed. Therefore the idea of a perfect entity must have originated from that perfect
entity itself, or in other words, from God. That God exists was therefore just as self-
evident for Descartes as that a thinking being must exist.”
“Now he was jumping to a conclusion. He was more cautious to begin with.”
“You’re right. Many people have called that his weak spot. But you say
‘conclusion.’ Actually it was not a question of proof. Descartes only meant that we all
possess the idea of a perfect entity, and that inherent in that idea is the fact that this
perfect entity must exist. Because a perfect entity wouldn’t be perfect if it didn’t exist.
Neither would we possess the idea of a perfect entity if there were no perfect entity.
For we are imperfect, so the idea of perfection cannot come from us. According to
Descartes, the idea of God is innate, it is stamped on us from birth ‘like the artisan’s
mark stamped on his product.’ “
“Yes, but just because I possess the idea of a crocophant doesn’t mean that the
crocophant exists.”
“Descartes would have said that it is not inherent in the concept of a crocophant
that it exists. On the other hand, it is inherent in the concept of a perfect entity that
such an entity exists. According to Descartes, this is just as certain as it is inherent in
the idea of a circle that all points of the circle are equidistant from the center. You
cannot have a circle that does not conform to this law. Nor can you have a perfect
entity that lacks its most important property, namely, existence.”
“That’s an odd way of thinking.”
“It is a decidedly rationalistic way of thinking. Descartes believed like Socrates
and Plato that there is a connection between reason and being. The more self-evident
a thing is to one’s reason, the more certain it is that it exists.”
“So far he has gotten to the fact that he is a thinking person and that there exists
a perfect entity.”
“Yes, and with this as his point of departure, he proceeds. In the question of all
the ideas we have about outer reality—for example, the sun and the moon—there is
the possibility that they are fantasies. But outer reality also has certain characteristics
that we can perceive with our reason. These are the mathematical properties, or, in
other words, the kinds of things that are measurable, such as length, breadth, and
depth. Such ‘quantitative’ properties are just as clear and distinct to my reason as the
fact that I am a thinking being. ‘Qualitative’ properties such as color, smell, and taste,
on the other hand, are linked to our sense perception and as such do not describe outer
reality.”
“So nature is not a dream after all.”
“No, and on that point Descartes once again draws upon our idea of the perfect
entity. When our reason recognizes something clearly and distinctly—as is the case
for the mathematical properties of outer reality—it must necessarily be so. Because a
perfect God would not deceive us. Descartes claims ‘God’s guarantee’ that whatever
we perceive with our reason also corresponds to reality.”
“Okay, so now he’s found out he’s a thinking being, God exists, and there is an
outer reality.”