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4 pages/≈1100 words
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APA
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Social Sciences
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English (U.S.)
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Topic:

The 5th Meditation

Essay Instructions:

Instructions: Write a paper answering one of the following prompts. Make sure to read each
prompt carefully, and ensure that your answer addresses each part of the prompt you choose.
Your paper should be 3–4 pages in length. Make sure your paper adheres to the following
formatting guidelines: 12-point Times New Roman font, 1-inch margins, double-spaced.
1. At Euthyphro 11a–b, Socrates says, “I’m afraid, Euthyphro, that when you were asked
what piety is, you did not wish to make its nature clear to me, but you told me an affect or
quality of it.” What definition of piety is Socrates referring to here, and why does he find
it unsatisfactory? In your answer, make sure to explain what Socrates means by a
‘quality’ and a ‘nature.’ Then, consider and assess one way in which Euthyphro might
have responded to Socrates’ objections.
2. In Proslogion II, Anselm writes, “when this same fool hears me say ‘something than
which nothing greater can be thought,’ he surely understands what he hears; and what he
understands exists in his understanding.” Explain what Anselm means by this. Then,
consider how one might resist this inference, and how that might pose a problem for
Anselm’s version of the ontological argument.
3. Descartes’s version of the ontological argument relies crucially on the premise that
‘existence is a perfection.’ But he provides no explicit justification for this claim. How
might Descartes defend it, and can it be defended convincingly?
4. Discuss Aquinas’s version of the cosmological argument, focusing on the Second Way.
First, explain the argument in your own words. Then, consider one possible problem for
the argument. How might Aquinas defend himself against this objection?
5. Leibniz’s cosmological argument differs from Aquinas’s insofar as it relies on the
principle “of sufficient reason, by virtue of which we consider that we can find no true or
existent fact . . . without there being a sufficient reason why it is thus and not otherwise.”
Explain this difference, and why it is significant to Leibniz’s version of the argument. Do
you think his version is more or less successful than Aquinas’s?
6. What is the problem of evil? Why does it pose a threat to theistic belief? In your answer,
make sure that you explain what is meant by ‘evil’ in this context, and how each of the
three divine predicates figures in the problem. Consider one way in which the theist could
address the problem. Then, consider one way in which the atheist might respond.

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3. Descartes’s version of the ontological argument relies crucially on the premise that ‘existence is a perfection.’ However, he provides no explicit justification for this claim. How might Descartes defend it, and can it be defended convincingly?
In the “Fifth Meditation” Descartes argues that God exists using the idea of ​​perfection. Descarte argues that he possessed the idea of ​​the perfect, which would not have been possible if there was no perfect being to originate it and the perfect being exists. In other words, when it is evident, it is possible to think of the perfect being, and for that reason, it must necessarily exist. The essence of the perfect being reflects existence and that, for this reason, it is not possible to think of the perfect being as non-existent. Descartes defended his idea existence is a perfection since God has all the perfections and then God has existence.
A supreme being is omnipotent and omnipresent; we can classify existence as impossible, contingent or necessary. Logical impossibility indicates that something is non-existent, like a triangle with no angles or sides, and contingent existence means something may or may not exist and depends on something else. When existence is classified as necessary things have to exist because it is impossible that they do not exist, like the case of logical absolutes. Descartes ontological argument focuses on necessary existence is a perfection. A supremely perfect being is a being of necessary existence because necessary existence is perfect when compared to a contingent existence or an impossible existence (Descartes).
Existence can be proved by focusing on the causality-effect if God exists, then it is possible to point out that the Supreme Being exists. Descartes affirmed that God is greater than everything else that existed and we cannot conceive anything more perfect than God. If God did not exist, it would bbe diffuclt to think of an existing God, since people would be lles likely to relate God with ​​divine perfection, but then there would be nothing more perfect than non-existent God. As such the nonexistent God would not be God, and this would contradict the premise existence is perfection. Since existing is more perfect than not existing and God is the most perfect, it must necessarily exist (Descartes).
Necessary existence is perfection, and the nature of God is one way to demonstrate the link between existence and perfection. Descartes was a doubting being and acknowledged that perfection was associated with knowing and no doubt. On the surface, it appears as though, Descartes did not differentiate between thought and reality since conceiving Gods means he exists without providing proof. However, Descartes argued that God has been different since conceiving clearly and perfectly results in people know that God is perfect and people have to discover the reality about his existence and this is different from what our mind determines.
Descartes analyzes the ideas infinity and perfection, and arguing that they could not have been caused by him, since he was finite and imperfect, and indicates ...
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