by Laura Hein
Descartes claimed that he could prove the existence of God. In human minds, God is infinite. But as human beings cannot come to the idea of infinity by inference, and the idea is not intrinsic to us, God must have put the concept into our minds.
I have trouble accepting this reasoning, however. The idea of infinity could have come to the human race in other ways. Our ancient ancestors used to look up at the sun, or even look down at the earth, and believed that both are infinite. And why not? When they woke up and a new day dawned, the sun was going to come out without failing. The ground that they slept on today would still be there when they woke up the next morning. They could count on the sun and the earth being there forever, unfailingly sustaining their existence. They could take those things for granted. The sun, the earth, the oceans would still be there even if they departed from the world. Time would simply go on and on.
Of course, the idea that the sun and the earth will always be here has been dispelled. We know now that even the universe cannot be infinite. All things must come to an end. Our ancestors did not know this, however, and the concept of infinity must have been easy to accept. The idea was then passed onto to us. This does not mean that I don’t believe in God. One day, the existence of God and the ideas of science may be reconciled, but Descartes’ explanation does not persuade me much.
In my opinion, I believe that Descartes could have meant what Laura Hein wants to say, that nature could have influenced or could have put the idea of infinity in the mind of our ancestors (which has been passed down to us); because such idea would result to another idea that their existence is caused by a certain cause, which would narrow down to an idea of a Causer. What caused the existence of the sun, of the moon, of the stars, of the earth and then by human existence? The narrowed down question would be: “What or who causes all of existence?” or “What or who causes the first instance of existence?” Ultimately, this will result to a conclusion that all existence should be caused by a Causer, which is (Who is) God. Descartes could have meant that and he does not mean a DIRECT Divine revelation, telling each human being that there exists an infinite being, such as Him. He rooted it from the fact that existence is CAUSED. Laura Hein seems to take Descartes literally. I want to quote Descartes with this: “The natural light tells us that there must be as much REALITY IN THE CAUSE as in the effect, and the more perfect could not come from the less perfect.”
ReplyDeleteSection A
DeleteIt is truly hard for one to accept the reasoning of Descartes regarding the existence of God, but will we really ever be able to come up with an acceptable explanation? God is supposed to be an infinite, absolute being and it may seem ignorant, but given our limitations as human being, we will never be able to really fully grasp God's existence. I believe that the belief in the existence of something infinite will only come through faith. However, who knows? The development of science that helped us disprove the idea of the sun and earth being infinite, may help us come up with an explanation. However for me, science is limited and it can only help us partially understand God's existence, but never fully.
ReplyDeleteRobert Go
Ph101 A
I'd like to play a bit of devil's advocate here and ask that when our ancestors looked at the sun and and the earth, didn't they also see these as works or bodies of a greater power? Our ancestors worshipped these things as something that came from a divine and infinite being. This can then go back to Descartes' claim that God exists because he put the idea of the infinite in our minds; granted it may not be the same god that Descartes is pointing to but since even our ancestors revered the idea of the infinite as being something godlike, maybe Descartes was on to something.
ReplyDeleteNow I'm not saying that Descartes was right, I find his arguments about God to be too confusing and cyclical myself, but maybe there is something in the way we attribute things to be divine that hints at the existence of a greater power. That maybe there is a "stamp of the creator" in us that brings about the idea of a god.
Ramon Domingo (C)
I can see why one would be hesitant to agree to Descartes' reasoning. To understand something beyond our mental capabilities is quite impossible and which in this case, can cause doubts and a conflict of belief. In the end, I believe that it boils down to one's faith in God. Even though Science may prove otherwise, there is comfort in believing in something higher than us. Therefore giving us a path to believing in things we wouldn't normally believe
ReplyDeleteAngelo Mendoza (C).
I agree with what you said. Perhaps the idea of the infinite is just the desire of a human being to be more than what he is. After all, the limited capacity of a human being can be seen in a lot of ways. For instance, his fallibility and even his mortality. If you think about it, Gods of other religions are not necessarily perfect and absolute. Nevertheless, they are considered as transcendent beings. For instance, in medieval times, some kings are worshiped and thought of as Gods.
ReplyDeleteJohn Luciano A