In the essay “Meditations on First Philosophy: Meditation Three,” Renee Descartes sets out to prove, or make certain of his existence. He does this by making certain of Gods existence.
Descartes begins by trying to prove his existence by establishing that he is a thinking thing. “I am a thing that thinks, that is to say, a thing that doubts, affirms, denies, understands a few things, is ignorant of many things, wills, refrains from willing, and also imagines and senses” (p. 24). Here, Descartes clearly states that he is a thinking thing, and then goes into what a thinking thing does. To Descartes, due to the fact that thinking things are deceitful it is hard to base his existence on something which is uncertain, such as imagining and sensing. All of these things a deceitful, and therefore cannot be the determining factor of his existence. All that he knows is that he is in existence because he is a thinking thing. However, Descartes needs something to further explain his existence. He therefore attempts to explain the existence of God, because if he can prove, or make certain of the existence of God, something which is infinite, than he can make certain of his existence.
Descartes establishes that humans and all other things that exist are corporeal things. Corporeal things can only affect and come from other corporeal things. In addition, corporeal things have limitations, therefore, according to Descartes, they are finite. “But perhaps I am something greater than I myself understand” (p.31). Here, Descartes expresses that he is a finite being, because he cannot fully understand himself. Therefore, the only thing that could fully understand a finite being would be an infinite thing or being.
“Thus there remains only the idea of God…I understand by the name “God” a certain substance that is infinite, independent, supremely intelligent and supremely powerful and that created me along with everything else that exists” (p. 30). The fact the Descartes exists means he is a finite being, therefore a finite being must come from an infinite being, which is God. Finite beings have a beginning and end. They run a course, but God, who is infinite, has no beginning or end. In addition, according to Descartes, to even fathom the idea of finite beings is so beyond what a finite being can fathom, that it would take an infinite being to fathom. Due to this, finite beings cannot fathom infinite beings. “It is no objection that I do not comprehend the infinite or that there are countless other things in God that I can in no way either comprehend or perhaps even touch with my thought. For the nature of the infinite is such that it is not comprehended by a being such as I, who am finite” (p. 31). Here Descartes demonstrates his vulnerability by stating that he cannot comprehend an infinite being. In turn, by doing this it proves how finite things can have uncertainty. However, because these finite objects and things come from an infinite thing, whom is God, which is supremely perfect, it can be certain that he is certain that he exists.
Finite things can produce and fathom other finite things. They cannot therefore think or produce infinite things, because it is beyond their scope of reason and thought. Therefore, there is much uncertainty to finite things. It takes an infinite thing to create a finite thing. In order for Descartes to prove his existence, it takes a thing, which has no beginning or end to bring him into existence. That thing is God. God is infinite, and in order for finite to exists, infinite must exists, hence, Descartes exists, because God exists.
