Meditation IV.
Of the True and the False.
I have been well accustomed these past days to detach my
mind from my senses, and I have accurately observed that there
are very few things that one knows with certainty respecting
corporeal objects, that there are many more which are known to
us respecting the human mind, and yet more still regarding God
Himself; so that I shall now without any difficulty abstract
my thoughts from the consideration of [sensible or] imaginable
objects, and carry them to those which, being withdrawn from
all contact with matter, are purely intelligible. And
certainly the idea which I possess of the human mind inasmuch
as it is a thinking thing, and not extended in length, width
and depth, nor participating in anything pertaining to body,
is incomparably more distinct than is the idea of any
corporeal thing. And when I consider that I doubt, that is to
say, that I am an incomplete and dependent being, the idea of
a being that is complete and independent, that is of God,
presents itself to my mind with so much distinctness and
clearness?and from the fact alone that this idea is found in
me, or that I who possess this idea exist, I conclude so
certainly that God exists, and that my existence depends
entirely on Him in every moment of my life?that I do not think
that the human mind is capable of knowing anything with more
evidence and certitude.
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