5.16 Commentary on descartes’ discourse on method and meditations  (Page 6/6)

That question, of who someone is, is so large and complicated that it brings up another question that maybe God Himself is deceiving us in this world, for this world (and understand who we are) is so complicated that maybe we are being deceived. Descartes also had his own ideas about the existence of God and his capability of deception:

I recognize it is impossible that He should ever deceive me, since in all fraud and deception there is some element of imperfection. The power of deception may indeed seem to be evidence of subtlety or power; yet unquestionably the will to deceive testifies to malice and feebleness, and accordingly cannot be found in God. (pg 54 the European philosophers)

If a human or a God created infinite pain in people, or was infinitely evil and deceptive, then this being would not be considered to be perfect because he or she would irritate everyone. The idea of a successful human is one that achieves personal fulfillment, and it is hard to imagine someone achieving a lot of satisfaction if they alienate everyone extremely. This doesn’t mean, however that if someone pleases everyone infinitely their life is going to be infinitely good as well. Also, since a perfect God would do everything perfectly, if He irritated people, He would do it perfectly, and that would mean irritating them infinitely, which doesn’t seem like a perfect thing to do. Although it isn’t conclusive as to whether or not pleasing other people infinitely is going to be self-beneficial, it could be considered a perfect thing to do since it is positively contributing to life. Even if someone is cruel to someone else, there is still a human connection that exists between them. This connection would become evident if the cruel person tried to be perfectly cruel, or cruel in such a way that the feelings of the other person became too evident, at which point the cruel person wouldn’t be capable of doing harm. For instance, a person couldn’t spend all day shooting people lined up, one after another, without it causing them distress. Since God is perfect, he would either do perfect harm or perfect good, but perfect harm isn’t possible because it would intensify negative feelings so much that they would become destructive to even the person doing the damage. Perfectly good feelings, however, don’t have to be intense - they could just be ordinary feelings and still be considered perfectly good. It is as if the true nature of evil is too vile to even exist. This philosophy is portrayed in a quote by Ralph Emerson - “To laugh often and much; To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded” The quote is a reflection of the ideas behind a good person and that this person is so good that any hint of cruelty wouldn’t be tolerated (especially perfect cruelty), and therefore perfect cruelty couldn’t exist. So when someone contemplates if they want to be cruel or good, when they realize they can only be so cruel so they also realize how they are good, and this sympathy can be conveyed in grand kind statements (like the Emerson quote).

Bibliography

Beardsley, M. C. (ED.) [1992 Modern library Edition Copyright 1960 Random House, Inc Copyright renewed 1988 by Random House, Inc.]. The European Philosophers from Descartes to Nietzsche. New York, USA and Toronto, Canada.