Philosophy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 13

Philosophy - Essay Example Yet though the senses are faulty the fault lies in the details about the objects of our senses. Therefore such an assessment does not rule out the existence of external objects that our sensed by our faculties. It is in this context that Descartes uses the images seen in dreams to raise the doubt about the existence of external objects. Descartes proposes that images that we see in our dreams quite often cannot be differentiated from external objects, and hence there is no totally reliable manner in which to ascertain whether a given image of an external object is reality or a dream image. In that case Descartes argues that there is no manner to ascertain whether all our images are dream images. In case all the images are dream images, then there are no external objects creating such images. Such being the case then the reliance on the senses to detect the existence of external objects is not without doubt and as such our senses cannot be trusted for such a purpose. This creates a doubt about the existence of external objects. (1) In my opinion Descartes is more successful in proving his own existence of self than in the arguments that he puts forth for the existence of God. In his argument in favor of the use of the faculty of reason, he provides its safe use in the detection of his own existence. If he can think about his own existence the he must exist. Even a malignant God would not be able to subvert this line of reasoning, as for the process of subversion the mind must exist, and so must he. This argument of Descartes in justifying his own existence appears to have been borrowed from similar arguments by St. Augustine several centuries before Descartes. His arguments in favor of the existence of God are more unique. He argues that the idea of God in an individuals mind could have been planted by God alone, and not by any lesser beings including him, with the reasoning that the idea of an infinite perfection could have been