I write my personal opinion based on what I see in Decartes' writing. Feel free to correct me if you feel that I err. Meditations on First Philosophy With Selections from the Objections and Replies [1641] -- I mark my margins with remarks...perhaps I have a backward understanding of Decartes. He comes off as being cocky in his Dedicatory letter to the Sorbonne. The way I read him, god exists because of the mind. To me, it seems as though he writes from two different hands. He feigns belief with one hand while asking the clergy to come out out of the closet by expressing their disbelief with the other. He knows the learned ones cannot provide proof of god's existence through demonstrations (empirical evidence as one could find in geometry). Descartes seems to do a nice (con) job of sucking up to "those most learned and distinguished men, the Dean and Doctors of the sacred Faculty of Theology at Paris..." Perhaps Decartes sought to score an elenchus. Maybe the "learned and distinguished men" read the document the way I did as they did not provide Decartes with their endorsement. It seems to me that Decartes' awareness of Galileo's ordeal lead him to sly caution. ~ Arachne

What is more, there is the difference that in geometry everyone has been taught to accept that as a rule no proposition is put forward in a book without there being a conclusive demonstration available; so inexperienced students make the mistake of accepting what is false in their desire to appear to understand it, more often than they make the mistake of rejecting what is true. In philosophy, by contrast, the belief is that everything can be argued either way; so few people pursue the truth, while the great majority build up their reputation for ingenuity by boldly attacking whatever is most sound.

Hence, whatever the quality of my arguments may be, because they have to do with philosophy I do not expect they will enable me to achieve any very worthwhile results unless you come to my aid by granting me your patronage. The reputation of your Faculty is so firmly fixed in the minds of all, and the name of the Sorbonne has such authority that, with the exception of the Sacred Councils, no institution caries more weight than yours in matters of faith; while as regards human philosophy, you are thought of as second to none, both for insight and soundness and also for the integrity and wisdom of your pronouncements. Because of this, the results of your careful attention to this book, if you deigned to give it, would be threefold. First, the errors in it would be corrected -- for when I remember not only that I am a human being, but above all that I am an ignorant one, I cannot claim it is free of mistakes. Secondly, any passages which are defective, or insufficiently developed or requiring further explanation, would be supplemented, completed and clarified, either by yourselves or by me after you have given me your advice. And lastly, once the arguments in the book proving that God exists and that the mind is distinct from the body have been brought, as I am sure they can be, to such a pitch of clarity that they are fit to be regarded as very exact demonstrations, you may be willing to declare as much, and make a public statement to that effect. ~ Rene Decartes