Review of the ontological argument

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  • Created by: Lottie
  • Created on: 05-05-12 13:08

Briefly explain Gaunilo's criticism of the ontological argument

Gaunilo argues that necessary existence is 'unintelliginle' and you cannot define an idea into existence. To demonstrate this he used his perfect island theory. Gaunilo argues that while the most perfect island can be concieved of that does not mean that it exists thus the same reasoning must be applied to Anselm's argument.

Explain Anselm's and Descartes'  version of the ontological argument

Anselm's ontological argument consists of the defintiion of God to be 'that than which nothing greater can be concieved' and argues that if God exists in the mind he must also exist in reality as he is the greatest  possible being. It also claims that existence is…

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Lauren Clayton

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Really good, a couple of typos though! :) very useful