an argument that does not rely on the evidence of the senses, but on logical argument
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what is meant by the term deductive?
the argument contains the conclusion that it reaches
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what is meant by the term analytic?
it is true by definition alone
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what other key concepts are there in the ontological argument?
attempts to prove gods existence by reason alone and it produces a conclusion which claims to be self evidently true
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what 3 stages can anselms argument be broken down into?
definition: 'that than which nothing greater can be concieved', the non existence of god is logically impossible, 'the fool' believes it cannot be true
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what does anselm argue?
when we speak of god we intuitively know what is meant by the term god. God is greater because he is supremley perfect
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what are some key terms used in anselms second argument?
In Re, In Intellectu, necessary being, de dicto
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what is a key quote from Anselm?
'without doubt, therefore,there exists, both in the understandong and in reality, something than which a greater cannot be thought'
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why did Rene descartes support the ontological argument?
it did not rely on what he regarded as unreliable evidence, as he could conceive of his own existence he believed he could conceive the existence of a perfect being
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what did Anselms premise consist of?
I exist, the concept of a perfect being must have originated from the perfect being, so a perfect being exists
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what is a key quote from Rene Descartes?
'cognito ergo sum- i think therefore i am'
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what was norman malcolms main argument?
if god could exist then he does exist and if he did not exist necessarily then he did not exist at all
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what else did Malcolm argue?
necessary existence is a perfection and if god possesses all perfections he must possess necessary existence
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what is a key quote from Malcom?
'existence cannot be a perfection of something'
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why did Alvin Plantinga support the ontological argument?
since god is maximally great and perfect he must exist in all possible world and will be the same in each one of them
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what is a key quote from Plantinga?
'...the greatest possible being must have maximal excellence in every possible world'
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why did Gaunilo criticise the argument?
when the logic is applied to other things than God it would lead to invalid conclusions
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why did anselm criticise gaunilos criticisms?
because the argument was only intended to apply to necessary beings and its not understood by atheists
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why did thomas aquinas criticise the argument?
anselm was guilty of making a transitional error, gods existence must be a posteriori, not all believers share the same definition of God
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what is a key quote from aquinas?
'the argument is only meaningful to understand the essence of God completely. only god can completey know his own essence so only he can understand the argument'
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Why did Kant criticise the argument?
existence is not associated with the definition of something, we cant ascribe a priori existence to our definition of a perfect being
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what is a key quote from kant?
'god is an object of pure thought'
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why did David Hume consider the argument a failure?
necessary existence isnt a coherent concept, all things said to exist could also be said to not exist
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what is a key quote from hume?
'we cannot define something into existence- even if it has all the perfections we can imagine'
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why did Richard dawkins criticise the argument?
he claimed its 'logomachist trickery' that 'offends me aesthetically' and should be treated with suspicion as it has no basis in empirical fact
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what are some of the general strengths of the argument?
it is deductive, its valid for the atheist too as the atheist must have an understanding of god to reject belief in god
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what are some of the general weaknesses of the argument?
not coherent, mutually inconsistent, leads to a useless god, it cant be assumed this is the only logical way of defining god
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Other cards in this set
Card 2
Front
what is meant by the term deductive?
Back
the argument contains the conclusion that it reaches
Card 3
Front
what is meant by the term analytic?
Back
Card 4
Front
what other key concepts are there in the ontological argument?
Back
Card 5
Front
what 3 stages can anselms argument be broken down into?
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