Ontological Argument Flashcards
What Greek word does the term ‘Ontological’ come from
einai (to be)
Who first coined the phrase ‘Ontological Argument’
Immanuel Kant
What is the aim of the Ontological Argument
To try and show that EXISTENCE is a natural part of God’s being
Who first established the argument (and within what work)
St Anselm of Canterbury in Proslogian 2 & 3
What is the context of his Prologian
He had previously proved God’s existence within his previous book Monologian
What does Peter Vardy note about the Prologian
Written as a prayer that the fool would believe
What does REDUCTO AD ABSURDUM mean
To disagree is a logical absurdity
What is Anselm’s definition of God
That than which nothing greater can be conceived
Why must God exist in reality
Even the fool of Psalm 14 accepts God exists in the understanding, it is greater to exist in reality as well as the understanding
Who developed the first criticism of Anselm (what book did he write)
Gaunilo in ‘On Behalf of the Fool’
Guanilo said the logic of Anselm’s argument can be used MUTATIS MUTANDIS what does this mean
By substitution of terms, Gaunilo can prove the existence of the ‘perfect island’
What are Anselm’s two responses to Gaunilo
1) Islands are contingent & God exists necessarily, God can not not exist whilst the island can
2) As a Platonist, God is immutable (can not change) meaning God is objective, Islands are subjective and can change
What does Anselm say about God in Proslogian 3
God HAS to necessarily exist
What is Schopenhaur’s criticism of Anselm
NOT fair that the question ‘does God exist’ is supposedly answered at the beginning and not the conclusion
What is Aquinas’ challenge to the Ontological Argument
We can only know God a posteriori, we ultimately have no agreed definition of God
What is Hume’s criticism of Anselm
Thinking something exists does not logically require its actual existence
Who formulated another form of the Ontological Argument in his book Meditations
Descartes
What is Descartes basis for God having to exists (triangle & mountain examples)
- Can NOT conceive a triangle without three sides or a mountain without a valley
- Can NOT conceive God without Him existing
What are the three parts of Descartes argument
1) Whatever is of the essence of something must be affirmed of it
2) God’s essence is to exist
3) Existence must be affirmed by God
What is Descartes definition of God
A supremely perfect being
Who thought that the argument made an illegitimate jump from ideas to reality (ontos)
Kant
What does Kant say existence is not
A real predicate or perfection
According to Kant what are all existential propositions
Synthetic
What is Gottlob Frege’s solution to Kant
- Existence is a ‘second rate’ predicate (used to tell us about ‘first rate’ predicates
- statement ‘God exists’ shows that there is something that falls under the concept of God
