In his first three Meditations, we find Descartes desperately searching for anything he can know for certain. After placing nearly everything into doubt, he finally touches upon the one thing that cannot be denied: his own existence. Given the extreme nature of his doubt, however, he must then go on to prove the existence of God. That said, does Descartes go too far here? Is he right to essentially throw out everything that he has come to know? And what's the point of all this? What do you think Descartes is looking to accomplish? Let us know what you think.
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Proving that you yourself exist is easy. You think therefore you are at least some kind of substance even if it’s just thought. Proving anything else exists is impossible. Descartes talks about deception and how everything can be false. As he puts it, while in a dream you believe it is real. It is not until the dream has ended that you realize it was not real. This life and everything we perceive could be an elaborate dream. If you can’t prove that other things exists how can you prove God exists? His proof is that there is existence. Without God there would be nothing. When he starts to talk about God he has gone too far. Descartes went from trying to prove the smallest detail to trying to prove that a supreme being exists. He has taken on to much here and his proofs become vague and not as solid as his own existence.
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