AS Philosophy - Critics of the Ontological Argument

Kant (1724 - 1804)

• Kant agreed with Descartes about the idea of how a triangle cannot be a triangle unless it has three sides however disagreed with the Ontological argument as a whole.
• He said that God only has a necessary existence if you believe in Him.
• E.g. you could say that a unicorn has one horn, this could be true but it doesn't mean that unicorns exist.

Existence is not a Predicate

• Kant said that there are many things for which without the predicate, a subject would not be a subject e.g. a piano without keys.
• He said, however, that existence is not a predicate of God, and it is easy to think of a being that doesn't exist.
• He came up with the idea of coins - there are no more coins in an imaginary pile…