Ontological argument Flashcards
Basis of Argument
- pslam 14 “the fool says in his heart “there is no god” “
- A priori : based on reason
- ontological : proving by definition
- 2 types of people believers and none believers but everyone has idea of god
what is pr1 ?
- “god is that which no greater can be concieved”
- because he is inherently omnipotent, omniscient, benevolent etc
- any other greater charecteristics can be added on to list
what is premise 2?
- something which exists in reality is greater than something that only exists in thought
- real sandwich > imaginary one
what is argued?
- god must exist in reality because he is the greatest thing
- existing is added to the list f his greatness ad i he doesn’t exist then he isn’t the greatest thing to exist
strengths
- it seems reasonable to say that somethings which exists in reality is better than something that only exists in thought
- (rep to problem of evil) without evil there is no good
- seems reasonable to say god is the greatest thing
weakness
-anselm is wrong to say that something is better in reality than in thought
eg- having cancer is worse than idea of cancer
- POE. natural evil: if god is the greatest thing why evil exist?
-kant’s argument- existence is not a predicate
guinolos argument- perfect island
why is it of value to faith
- provides proof for the fool because the argument is simple and reasonable
- luther - sola fide
- rep to Barth : provides an example of encounter with god
why it not of value to faith?
- kant - if believer questions faith then argument is wrong
- Barth argues that it sounds more like his own personal encounter with god and therefore is invalid
why is it of proof?
- it is a apriori meaning it is based from reasoning and logic like maths
- if the reasoning is correct the the argument is errifutable
- like a math problem if the premise is true then the conclusion is true
why is it not of proof?
- kant argues that existence is not a predicate therefore one of the premices is wrong and if one is wrong then it invalidates the conclusion
- if it is proof all philosophers would agree however they don’t
- Barth argues that in prostogian 1 it sounds like a prayer rather than philosophical work
what was Guinilios “perfect island”argument ?
-guinilio substatutes god to the perfect island i anselms argument
1-the perfect island is that which no greater can concieved
2-something that exists in reality is better than something which exists in thought alone
3-the perfect island must exist
-∴ he argues the perfect island can not be conveyed and shown and the same is with god
how did anselm respond to guinilios argument
- anselm stes that guinilios argument fails because it is not an exact replica
- guinilios uses “an island” in his argument this means that is island is the greatest of all islands
- this invalidates his argument because the island is the best of the islands but not of everything god bests everything
what was kants 1st objection?
-“existence is not a predicate”
-Example: the cat is black gives info about the cat new knowledge
the cat exists gives no information or description
-anselm argues that existence is one of gods great charectersistics
-argument fails because kant says god can be the greatest without having to exist
what was kants 2nd objection
(Descart expands on ontological argument)
- descrt “thinking about god without thinking he exists is like thinking of a triangle without a third side”
- kant says that one can think of a triangle but one can also dismiss the triangle as a whole
- ∴one can think of a necessarly exicting being but it doesnt mean it has to exist
- one can not reject part of the idea but can reject the whole idea
who is Anselm
-11th century
-Archbishop of cantubury 1093
christia philospher
proslogion 1 and 2
