Wow, that seemed to me like knocking down bowling pins in an alley.

I wonder though, however good your essay is, why argue with a dead person's argument, if not to counter someone using them? It's not very useful to trouble still waters with no purpose.

But, do as you will, I'm not one to judge.

Bloody yours,

-Ajariel the Bloody (Ah, the joys of the "commie t-shirt effect")

Good logic. I agree, Descartes doesn't make a very good argument for God's existence. I find Descartes' reasoning to be limited in general, because he is so determined to stick to "formal logic" and go through ponderous proofs that really need some imagination. However, on the question of God... It's not something that can be proven or disproven-but good arguments can be made both ways. Personally I believe it, and if you want a more difficult argument to counter, the person below me suggested St. Thomas Aquinas, which is good, and I am going to add to that C.S. Lewis.

interesting that you're trying to take on descartes... (i remember having to read him in freshman philosophy, and hating him intensely. not the most persuasive of philosophers, to my mind.)

if you're serious about taking this on, you might want to read St. Thomas Aquinas' proof of God - it's from his Summa Theologiae, just a few pages, available on-line. That might be a bit more interesting to write about. (Though, of course, i'd probably place my bets with thomas... after all, he was the smartest man in the middle ages!)

I agree. Lovecraft does rock. But, shes right. Just because you disprove one theory, there are many more out there. It doesnt really prove existence or nonexistence.

It'a a nice thought, but something tells me a lot of people won't understand this. Some points are very confusing. It does seem that you may be thinking into this too much. why no have a little faith?

Descartes may have been wrong, that is true, but you also have nearly four hundred years of knowledge on him, so lets give the man a little credit, shall we.
We cannot prove that God exists, yet as we have no proof that God does not exist, he therefore must.
Calvin Fitzgerald

I just found out what "Cthulhu" is. Lovecraft rules btw.
As I said before you have a great way of driving a logical spear through the hearts of absurd arguments, better then me infact. However you may want to try and be a bit creative in the way you do it. Satire and humour sometimes make the best swords to run through and argument becuase the humour gets over the point better.
Anyway keep working away, I'm at present working on a mother fucking huge essay about how faith needs to be disintergrated in this new century. Though sometimes on fictionpress it feels like we atheists are trying to swim through quick sand.

Oh. Logical. Dull, but very logical.

I like how you deal with Descartes' arguments. I have to say that my grasp on logic is largely intuitive, but your reasoning makes sense.

All you have to do is point out the subjective nature of 'perfection' and Descaertes' arguments break down, as do your counter-arguments. Perfection is a human evaluation that has no bearing outside our perceptions.