Descarte's theory of knowledge : with emphasis upon his certainty of the existence of God

Throughout the history of western philosophy, philosophers have tried to discover the ways in which our knowledge is acquired. What is knowledge? And how may we judge the falsity and the truth of knowledge? We seem to be satisfied and justified most of the time with our explanations of the ways in which the universe operates. But we often fail to ask ourselves how we obtained our knowledge. There are times when what we thought we knew with certainty turns out to be false or dubious; and as we reflect on this fact, it becomes possible to entertain suspicions of all claims to certainty.The theory of knowledge has been largely the history of human opinions. At one time or another, all theories and beliefs held by wise men have seemed absurd. No doubt there are people who accept some of their theories but there are others who reject them. The important question has to do with the fact that what has been once accepted as certain can be later proven false or dubious. The question then remains, can we ever be certain?Philosophers have long been interested in determining the basis of all knowledge claims and in judging these claims as to their truth or falsity. Rene Descartes, the great French philosopher trained in Aristotelian philosophy, posed his theory of knowledge in a most striking way. Because he had reached the conclusion that most of the information which we accept as true could conceivably be false, he began searching for knowledge which could be held with absolute certainty, which could under no circumstances be false or doubtful.In this particular research paper I will be dealing with Descartes' theory of knowledge with particular emphasis upon his certainty of the existence of God and the crucial importance of this conviction to the rest of his philosophy. After showing how Descartes arrived at this belief, I will then evaluate it as to its adequacy in meeting his demands for certainty. In carrying out this intention, I will be writing basically on the last five of his six Meditations.Thesis (M.A.