In the fourth mediation, Rene Descartes asserts that there is existence of perfect and Supreme Being in the universe with ability to create human beings. Based on his argument of existence of material and immaterial substances in human body, he differentiates existence of God and human beings.
Descartes argues that, God, human beings, and devil exist in a continuum of existence. God is the perfect being at one extreme end while devil exists at the other extreme end, leaving human beings on the intermediate between the two extremes of existence.
He attributes God as a perfect being and devil as a deceiver who distracts humanity from achieving perfect status of their creator. In fourth mediation, Descartes claims to have inherited everything from the perfect creator and thus he has the potential not to make any errors unless the evil one deceives him. In the light of Descartes’ mediation, how can human err yet God is a perfect creator and not a deceiver?
Descartes believes that human beings lie in the continuum of existence and as aforementioned, the continuum of existence differentiates God, human beings, and the devil. God is a perfect creator whose existence lies in the extreme end of perfection.
The perfect creator bestows some attributes to human beings making them lie in the intermediate continuum of existence. On the other extreme end, the devil exists in the unreal world deceiving human beings to live in the world of deception where they cannot define their identity relative to the infinite and perfect creator.
Since human beings have unequal perfectness as compared with God, they are prone to make errors. With infinite ability of existence, God created human beings with finite existence and this attribute makes them susceptible to error since the devil is able to deceive them.
Moreover, since God created human beings and gave them freedom to choose their orientation in life, Descartes believes that human error originates from such freedom. He argues that, human beings can attain perfection of God represented by reality or imperfection of the devil represented by nonexistence.
Human beings that orient towards God’s perfection achieve reality of existence and meaning of life, while those that orient towards the devil become lost in the world of deception. The world of deception is the extreme end of existence with nothingness where human beings make errors due to deception by the devil.
Although God is a perfect being, infallible creator and cannot deceive humanity to make errors, Descartes observes that human errors occur due to existence of the devil and inherent freedom accorded to humans.
The devil is in the world of nonexistence while God is in the world of reality, thus human beings have freedom to choose whether to achieve nonexistence or reality, and if they choose nonexistence, they err.
Knowledge and understanding are other attributes that differentiate God from human beings. Through infinite knowledge and understanding of existence, God created human beings with finite knowledge and understanding.
The knowledge and understanding of God is matchless because human beings have been struggling for ages to understand their existence yet God fully understands their existence.
Since Descartes failed to define his existence and attain real meaning of life, he wondered how he could understand the existence of the infinite creator. He considers it arrogance and futile for a finite mind to attempt to embrace the infinite mind of God. Thus, finite intellectual abilities of human beings make them susceptible to error.