ABSTRACT

Descartes’s best hope of establishing a position that is significant, relatively non-arbitrary, consistent and non-circular seems to lie, then, in the notion of a scale of distinctness, as already indicated above. The perception of God’s power is even more clear and distinct than perceptions of mathematical necessity; thus we are entitled to hold that the latter perceptions are subordinated to God’s power. Similarly, the perception of God’s perfection is more clear and distinct than our best intuitions of mathematical and scientific truth. We are entitled to rely on the latter just because they receive ‘confirmation’ from the most evident perception of all. However, it must again be remarked (and conceded) that this is not the line of defense that Descartes himself adheres to in his replies to the ‘circularity’ objection.