Descartes and God

Descartes perceived not only that he was a thinking "I", he realized at the same time that this thinking "I" was more real than the material world which we perceive with our senses. With the same intuitive certainty, Descartes came to the conclusion that in his mind he had a clear and distinct idea of a perfect entity. The idea of a perfect entity cannot have originated from one who was himself imperfect, Descartes claimed. Descartes 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. 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 centre. 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 God exists was therefore just as self-evident for Descartes as that a thinking being must exist. According to Descartes, the idea of God is innate, it is stamped on us from birth,"like the artisans mark stamped on his product." Therefore in a decidedly rationalist pattern of thinking, Descarted has got to the fact that he is a thinking person and there exists a perfect entity. When our reason recognizes something clearly and distinctly - as is the case for the mathematical properties of outer reality - it must be necessarily 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