Descartes’ Third Meditation

Descartes' Third Meditation

The Existence of God

Summary of First Meditation

He demolished everything he had learned, and started over again right from the foundations

Disproves one aspect of every falsehood

Tries to find a certain base of certitude for actions

Explains a theory that madmen's behaviour is a personification of dreams

States that all we know is truly a deception

Summary of Second Meditation

He questions himself, about the idea that he is a rational animal, but further realizes that he is not a rational animal and continues to question himself.

Realizes that he exists and thinks, and creates the term "Congito Ergo Sum" (I think there I am)

He questions his mind and the truth about his senses. Then, questions if God is deceiving his senses and restates that God is a "Malicious Demon."

Concludes with his Theory of Wax, which in tales that his senses were like the wax melting off the candle(there always changing), and then that his senses were like the flame(always burning and will always be there)

Summary of Third Meditation

Why he asks the question in the first place

He believed that his later judgments (in meditations 1 and 2) were open to doubt, and that some God could have deceived him on matters that were obvious.

Sees the idea that if he went wrong on the matters that he believed to be true, than it must have been a supreme being at work.

Thus he realizes from the two points above that he doesn't even know if there even is a God, and if there is one, whether he can be a deceiver or not.

Starts to prove that there is a God by using notions about "The Self"

Brings up certain ideas and thoughts, that when we are afraid or scared, we bring up an image of something that will comfort us.

Big mistake that people have in there judgments or ideas of God would be that the ideas that we have inside about God must resemble, or be confirmed by a material object.

We all have our own nature, and when we judge the sky or sun we are making a judgment that everyone makes.