Philosophy midterm 6 of 10 essay

Introduction

Descartes is one of the philosophers whose works has been related to in different aspects of the world. One of the most significant works of Descartes that has played an important role in the society is the meditation four. In this sector of Descartes’ works, he concentrates on the aspect of errors made by human beings and some of the reasons which cause the errors. Errors are inevitable in human life.

In meditation four, Descartes sees that human beings can make mistakes despite the fact that God’s nature is perfect and He cannot deceive us. Human errors can therefore be considered to be the cause of human will and intellectual capacity (Descartes 78). It is the will of mankind that places him in the state to commit errors or not to. The power of the will and understanding is what contributes to human errors and therefore Descartes’ views on making errors are based on this aspect. The nature of being and existence is one which plays a role in the errors committed by mankind.

Despite the errors made by mankind, Descartes proposes the view that God made man in the best possible. He further states that humans are essential components of the perfect universe. In this proposition, man was given the power of the will and understanding by God. However, the will of man may sometimes influence his actions negatively. This is when the aspect of errors comes into play where the errors are made by man are as a result of the will power. The intellectual nature of mankind plays a part in contributing to the errors made by mankind. Every human being is an intellectual in their own way (Descartes 57). For this reason, different people will commit different errors on the basis of their intellectual capacity.

Reference:

Descartes, R. Descartes: Meditations on First Philosophy: With Selections from the Objections
and Replies, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996.