Ontological Argument
- Created by: Alicejade11
- Created on: 24-03-16 11:57
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- Anselm
- Ontological Argument
- Explores what is meant for something to exist
- It is a priori argument
- Knowledge that is gained through deduction, not through empirical evidence. e.g. all bachelors are unmarried.
- Anselms first argument
- 1) "God is a being than which nothing greater can be conceived"
- 2) Something that exists in reality is bound to be greater than something that exists in the mind alone.
- 3) God must exist in the mind and in reality to be the greatest being.
- Gaunilo
- 12th century monk
- Criticised Anselms ontological argument in his 'behalf of the fool'
- If you imagine a perfect island, it doesn't make it real
- Just because a person can conceive of something, it doesn't make it exist
- Anselms counter argument
- You cannot possibly compare God with an island
- Anselms second argument
- It is greater to be a necessary being than a contingent being
- if God were a contingent being,he could not be the greatest because we can imagine him not existing
- Descartes
- 17th century
- Developed Anselms Ontological argument in his 'meditations on first philosophy'
- Believes God is perfect and a predicate of perfect is existence.
- Existence is a predicate of God
- Interior angles that add up to180 degrees and 3 sides are a predicate of a triangle
- Kant's criticisms
- Argues against Descartes in 'critique of pure reason'
- existence is not a real predicate
- saying something simply 'exists' does not add anything to the definition of something.
- 1033-1109
- The argument was proposed in his book 'Proslogion'
- Argument started from a theistic stance
- The argument is from a faith seeking understanding rather than an attempt to convert and atheist.
- Was responding to Psalms 14 and 53 which begins 'the fool says to himself "there is no God".
- Believes God has to exist because he is so perfect he must exist in reality, not just a thought in your mind.
- Ontological Argument
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