Descartes' Special Causal Principle In his Meditations, René Descartes attempts to discover some truths about existence. In his Third Meditation he establishes his "special causal principle" (SCP). Descartes uses this principle to explore the origin of ideas and to prove the existence of God. I agree that there is a lot of logic to be found in the SCP, but I disagree with Descartes' method of proving the existence of God, and in this essay I will explain why. I will begin by explaining the SCP and then demonstrate how Descartes applies this principle to prove that God exists. I will then present my critique of the SCP and expose the flaws of both of Descartes' proofs regarding the principle. A conclusion will then follow. In Descartes' Second Meditation, he established that because he is a thinking being, he exists. In the Third Meditation, Descartes attempts to build on this foundation by asking whether or not something exists outside of him. To do this, he must distinguish between those of his thoughts that come from the outside and those that only appear. The method used by Descartes for this differentiation is the special causal principle (SCP). Fundamentally, SCP is a basic topic of cause and effect. Descartes begins his rationale for the SCP as follows: It is now manifest in natural light that there must be at least as much reality in the efficient and total cause as in the effect of that cause. 1 There are two main results of this logic. First, that something cannot come from nothing, and second that what contains more reality (or is more perfect) cannot come from something that contains less reality (or is less perfect). To illustrate this argument… half of the paper… conclusion, there is an undeniable logic to the SCP. Once it is explained that the SCP is based on the ability to recognize self-evident truths, it becomes a reliable principle through which to explore the existence of God. But the SCP becomes unclear and less distinct when dealing with metaphysical objects such as ideas. By extending the SCP to ideas, Descartes strays too far from his notions of "clarity" and "distinction." If Descartes had chosen not to limit himself to his own thoughts as the only vehicles for exploring whether or not God exists, he probably would have been much more successful. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Cottingham, John [ed]. Meditations on first philosophy. Cambridge University Press. Great Britain; 1997Notes1 Paragraph 412 Ibid.3 Ibid.4 Paragraph 435 Paragraph 456 Paragraph 427 Paragraph 51