The Ontological argument 0.0 / 5 ? PhilosophyIdeas of godsASOCR Created by: Emily WebbCreated on: 13-05-15 21:01 The Ontological argument Anselm's a priori argument aims to prove the existence of God Responding to the fool who doesn't believe in God God is 'that than which nothing greater can be conceived' Things can exist either in mind only or in mind and reality It is greater to exist in mind and reality than in the mind only God has to logically exist for the definition to be true Guanilo: perfect island: logic doesn't work Anselm then explains: Necessary existence is better than contingent existence If God is that than which nothing greater can be conceived then God has necessary existence Unlike the island which in contingent Descartes: God possesses all perfections and existence is a quality of a perfection E.g. a triangle has 3 sides and without one side it wouldn't be a triangle: without God existing it wouldn't be a perfect God Kant opposes Descartes and says that existence is not a predicate God might exist, but you can't prove it with logic Adding 'and exists' to the end of something does not mean that it exists Things need more than a definition to exist e.g. a unicorn can be defined but doesn't exist 1 of 1
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