PHIL 100W Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Body Plan, Ontological Argument

• School: Simon Fraser University
• Department: Philosophy
• Course: PHIL 100W
• Professor: Dai Heide

Document Summary

Descartes insists that we can clearly and distinctly perceive corporeal essences even if there are no corporeal things. The claim: existence is included in god"s essences. And this necessity plainly guarantees that, when i later realize that existence is a perfection, i am correct in inferring that the first and supreme being exists. (46-7) Descartes" ontological argument for the existence of god. Descartes here gives a version of what is known as the ontological argument for the existence of god. This argument was first made by st. anselm and was endorsed by many medieval and early modern philosophers and theologians: whatever i clearly and distinctly perceive is true. The key steps are (3) and (5) Step 3: descartes claims that existence is a perfection: the idea is that a being that exists is more perfect than a being just like it but that does not exist.