A Critical Analysis of Trademark Argument for the Existence of God

René Descartes (1596-1650), the French philosopher and reviver of Western philosophy, based his philosophy on grammatical skepticism and the abandonment of all previous beliefs, even his own objective existence. He then came to his first definitive belief i.e. his own existence as "I think," by relying on the undeniable intuition known as Kezito, manifested in the proposition "I think, therefore I am". Afterward, he argued for the existence of God through the thinking soul, and considered the real existence of God, in addition to the assurance of divine power and will and the certainty that God is not deceitful, as the guarantor of the correctness of other conventional beliefs and scientific and philosophical doctrines. Descartes gave three reasons for the existence of God, the first of which is the "Trademark Argument". This article discusses this argument using authentic translations of some of Descartes' works. It will then briefly explain the criticisms leveled at this argument during Descartes' time as well as his answers, and finally evaluate the body of the argument and its criticisms and responses.