Sunday, January 29, 2012

Perfect Creator, Imperfect Creature?


Up to this point, Descartes has established that he is a thinking thing, and that a supreme being, God, exists. Descartes realizes that he is not complete by himself; instead, he is a dependent being. God, as the Supreme Being, is wholly independent, possessing limitless power and knowledge and goodness. God, as the Supreme Being, while possessing the power to deceive, would not be deceptive, as the desire to deceive is a weakness. So God would not give his creatures minds that are capable of deceiving them. But there seems to be a problem with the thinking thing that God made. Descartes knows that he is capable of making errant judgments, and is often deceived. Thus a problem arises: why would a perfect God create imperfect creatures?

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