ence his "Cogito ergo sum". Through this rational, cogito ergo sum meaning, I think therefore I am, and furthermore, I am, therefore I exist, Descartes rationalize his own existence. Thus his existence is that of an innate nature, however, Descartes also uses the idea of God as an innate idea as well. Is this possible, can he have an innate idea of an external being? Descartes begins his argument, of the existence of God, with the only thing he knows to be true; that through doubting, he must exist. By knowing he doubts he therefore does not know everything. This makes him imperfect. However, to know that he is an imperfect being he must therefore have an idea of what is perfection. And by having that idea, because he is finite and cannot come up with such an idea himself, a perfect being must exist- God. Knowing that he has an idea of perfection, Descartes continues to prove God's existence by assuming everything must have a cause. This is known as the Principal of Sufficient Reason. Descartes views God as an innate idea, as is that of his own existence. The problem with thinking that God is an innate idea is that it does not include the ideas which others have of God. One would assume that if God were an innate idea, one that was planted in the mind, then all ideas of God would be the same. An instance where God is very different from the idea that Descartes has of God is in Pagan belief. The Pagans believe that there are two Gods- a God and a Goddess and neither one of them are perfect. Thus Descartes idea of God is different then that of others. Nevertheless, Descartes uses this idea, to determine God does exist. Descartes' second argument for the existence of God is then: 1) By definition, God has all perfection 2) Existence is a perfection 3) Therefore, God exists. Despite his efforts to remove all imprecise information from his thoughts, Descartes' proofs of God have some errors, or at least shortcomings, that have been pointed ...
