Argyemnts Based On Rewson Flashcards
Descartes ontological arguement
God is supremely perfect being
Supremely perfect being has perfect characteristics
Existences is essential characteristic of perfect being
God’s existence is logically necessary
Therefore God exists
Descartes’ reasoning
A triangle must have angles that add to 180 degrees
This is the essence of a triangle
Without it it isn’t a triangle
Kant criticisms
Kant agrees angles are the essence of the triangle but that doesn’t mean this particular triangle exists in reality
Defining something doesnt make it exist
The idea of Gid doesn’t make him exist
Kant on predicate and existence
Predicate is part of sentence that gives us knowledge of the subject
Existence is not a predicate because to say God “exists” adds nothing to our understanding of God
Kant uses example of 100 silver coins, adding the word real adds nothing to our perception of them
Richard Dawkins criticisms
Ontological argument is trickery and ‘impossible for nonbelievers to grasp
He says it’s impossible to understand terms God or necessary existence
Anselm ontological argument
both atheist and believers can agree God is that which nothing greater can be perceived
Premise 1 - God exists in our minds
Premise 2 - a being that exists in reality is better then one existing in our mind
Premise 3 - if God exists in our mind he would be the greatest being
Premise 4 - God must exist in our mind and in reality
Criticism of Anselm premise Q
Premise 1 criticism - it isn’t possible to come up with accurate definition with Gid as he is transcendent
Anselm doesn’t define greatness and doesn’t tell us anything about God’s nature
Anselm on premise 2
Anselm gives example of painter
The painting is much better when drawn out then when first imagined in his mind
Guanilo says this is a bad analogy as there is a difference in the initial idea to the finished product
Sometimes the finished product is worse then the idea
