1E: Deductive Arguments - Developments of the Ontological Argument

Question 1

Who developed the Ontological Arguments?

Answer 1

• Rene Descartes
• Norman Malcolm

Question 2

Who was Rene Descartes?

Answer 2

• French philosopher, mathematician and scientist.

Question 3

What was Descartes argument?

Answer 3

• starts with ‘God is a supremely perfect being’. Therefore, God is perfect in every wat, i.e. he possesses every attribute in its perfect state.
• for his second premise Descartes stated that there with certain qualities that an object has to have, or it would not be that object. He called these predicates.
• Descartes argues one of the many predicates of a supremely perfect being must be existence. This is because God would not be a supremely perfect if He did not exist as he would have flaws and a ‘supremely perfect being’ cannot have any flaws
• Therefore he must exist, therefore God exists

Question 4

What are the two examples used by Descartes?

Answer 4

1) triangles:
- it has three sides - that join together
- the three angles add up to 180 degrees
- Descartes also added that it does not matter if I know what a triangle is, the predicates will remain the same.

2) mountains and valleys:
- the mountain has an up slope
- the valley has a down slope
- Descartes added that it does not matter if I know what a mountain/valley is, the predicates will remain the same.

Question 5

Who was Norman Malcolm?

Answer 5

• American philosopher who rubbed shoulders with G.E. Moore and Wittgenstein at the University of Cambridge in 1930s

Question 6

What was Malcolm’s argument?

Answer 6

• starts his argument with his definition of the nature of God: ‘God is an absolutely unlimited being’
• Malcolm states that deductively with this definition; God must either be: a necessary being or His existence is completely impossible
• Malcolm argues that if God exists, His existence must be ‘necessary’ rather than just ‘possible’. However he calls human beings ‘possible beings’ as our existence is dependent on something else (e.g. parents)
• God cannot be a ‘possible being’ due to Malcolm’s definition of God that He is an unlimited being’
• as God is described as an ‘absolutely unlimited being’ he mist be a necessary being
• God is a necessary being, if He does not exist now, nothing can bring God into existence in the future. This would be because it would mean God needs creating and this would limit Him.