The Ontological Argument

?

Basis of Anselm's Argument:

His argument is a priori- this means that it can be known to be true without reference to sense experience.

- His argument is deductive - this means that if the premises are true then the conclusion must also be true. 

- God's existence, for Anselm, is a necessary truth and not a contingent.

Anselm describes God as the greatest conceivable being. By this he means greatest in every possible respect. 

God is omniscient and omnipotent. Many people see Anselm's definiton of God as a good working definition of God. 

Anselm's argument is as follows: 

P1 - God is the greatest conceivable being

P2 - It is greater to exist in reality than to exist only in the mind

C - Therefore, as the greatest conceivable being, God must exist in reality. 

Criticism of Anselm by Gaunilo: 

Gaunilo criticised Anselm by using a parody of his argument:

P1 - It is possible to conceive of the most perfect and real lost island.

P2 - It is greater to exist in reality than to exist only in the mind.

C - Therefore, the most perfect and real lost island must exist.

Gaunilo believes that the concept of this 'most perfect and real lost island' makes little sense, because we know that such island cannot exist. 

He called his argument a 'reductio ad absurdum', which means 'argument to absurdity'. 

He says that Anselm's argument can be used to prove the existence of an endless number of perfect objects. We can show that these don't exist and so Anselm's argument does not work. 

Anselm's response to Gaunilo: 

P1: To be perfect, an island would have to be 'that island than which no greater can be conceived.'

P2: An island than which no greater can be conceived would have to exist necessarily, since a contingent island would be less perfect than an island that existed necessarily. 

P3: But islands are contingent, and so cannot exist necessarily.

C: Therefore, the logic of the argument related to a perfect island does not apply to God.

further...

P1: God is the greatest conceivable being. 

P2: The greatest conceivable being cannot be conceived to not exist.

C: Therefore, God, and God alone, posseses necessary existence: God cannot not exist.

Kant's Criticisms

Kant had two major critcisms of the Ontological Argument. 

OBJECTION 1: EXISTENCE IS NOT A PREDICATE

Anselm states that the greatest conceivable being must possess the predicate of existence.

Kant's objection is that existence is not a predicate,the reason for this is that it adds nothing to the concept of the thing. 

A predicate should give us new knowledgeof the subject.

Kant's example of the 100 Thalers: 

When you imagine the thalers you can describe the predicates of them e.g. round, metal, gold, and this can give you an image of what they are. Each of the predicates adds something new to the concept of the thaler. If you then add that the thaler exists,

Comments

No comments have yet been made