Letter of Dedication - "Meditations" by Renes Descartes

At the beginning of Descartes' famous work The Meditations on First Philosophy he offers an introductory letter to the fellow scholars at the Sorbonne in Paris explaining why he has written this work. His desire is one to truly help evangelize for the Church, but he thinks that there will not be success in this evangelization if natural reason cannot be used to show people that God exists and the immortal soul exists. Just evangelizing through faith he does not see as convincing enough, as the world provides so many temporary advantages. 1

And indeed Descartes quotes from the book of Wisdom and the book of Romans which both back up this notion that all people can come to the knowledge of God with reason. And many such men have sought to make rational demonstrations for this. And so he is setting out to craft the greatest and ultimate version of these types of demonstrations for God's existence. (Note here he also makes the claim that God will be shown to be knower to us prior to even the knowledge of the world, harkening back to Plato's argument from the Phaedo that all learning is remembering and the universal forms are present and prior in us before our material experiences that trigger them.) 2 

He is going to take a new method he has pioneered in the sciences to create a totally convincing demonstration of God's existence. He is going to lay out the best and most convincing form. It may be complicated, but for those with the attention span and skill, will be able to follow it to its certain conclusion. 3

Indeed in Descartes day there are many who play the role of sophist in philosophical circles, claiming nothing can be know with certainty and everything can be argued on both sides. And so he needs this august faculty to sponsor these ideas so they will gain some traction in the philosophical world. He also wants them to help him perfect his arguments so that no doubt will be left by anyone who understands them. 4

"...and there will no longer be anyone who dares to doubt the existence of God and the real and true distinction between the human soul and the body." 5

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1 - Descartes, Renes. Discourse on Method and Meditations. (Liberal Arts Press, Inc; United States of America, 1960) pg. 3

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