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Descartes' Trademark Argument for God's Existence Essay

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Descartes' Trademark Argument for God's Existence The trademark argument (also known as the causal argument) tries to prove Gods existence through the fact that we have an idea of him. This argument rests on Descartes' definition of cause and effect, which he considers a priori. This idea, that God is an infinite being, he reasons is innate left on our brain as his stamp or trademark much like a potter leaves on his pots. "God, at my creation, implanted this idea in me, that it might serve, as it were, for the mark of the workman impressed on his work" This idea of infinity must be innate because a finite thing like a human cannot come up with the idea of something infinite 'just as stone …show more content…

Descartes uses the example of a stone, saying that it cannot be produced by anything that does not contain everything to be found in the stone. Similarly, heat cannot be produced by anything that does not contain the same order of perfection as the heat. The purpose of this premise is to reinforce the saying that nothing comes from nothing (Latin: ex nihilo nihil fit). I have an idea of a perfect being; it must contain in reality all the features that are contained merely objectively in my idea. He cannot think of a being perfect because he is an imperfect being or can the idea have come from an union of various other ideas that he has, for there would have to be an infinite regress that would in any event trace back to an original cause of the idea. Thus, the ultimate cause of Descartes' idea of God must possess all the traits that Descartes sees it to have, and therefore it can be concluded that God necessarily exists. Its flaw is that it suggests that there can be no cases of objects being "greater than the sum of their parts." For example, the strength inherent in a bridge must, be contained in the girders and rivets that make it up. If the bridge did not get its strength from these basic parts, then it seems that they came from nowhere. We can also say that helium, which is caused by the fusion of hydrogen atoms, possesses properties that were not present in the

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