Kant's criticism's of the OA Flashcards
Who were Kant’s criticisms of the OA aimed at?
Descartes, but they can still be applied to Anselm.
What is a predicate?
The part of a sentence that tells you something about the subject - an attribute, like yellow or heavy, for example.
Is existence a predicate in Kant’s opinion, and why?
No, existence is not a predicate because a predicate must tell us something about a subject, and existence does not tell us anything about a subject.
So are there any contradictions when you deny God’s existence?
No, because even when you deny the concept of God, he stays the same.
What is existence for Kant?
For Kant, existence is the concept of the thing exemplified in the world; it is not a property but a pre-condition of anything having properties at all.
Why does it matter if existence is a predicate?
If existence is not a predicate, then it cannot be part of the definition of God meaning that you can define him and still reject his existence.
What example does Kant use to outline his criticism?
He would invite you to imagine 100 thalers (coins), you would imagine it with its predicates (gold, round etc) but if you say the thalers exist it does nothing to change our concept of the thalers. There is no difference between the concept of 100 thalers and 100 thalers that exist. We can then apply this to God.
