Ontological Argument Flashcards
Descartes ontological argument
God is a supremely perfect being - a being who posses all perfections
Existence is a perfection
Therefore god exists
Descartes triangle
Triangle has necessary predicates like internal angles which add up to 180 degrees
If any of the predicate are removed the triangle is no longer a triangle
We cannot conceive a triangle without three angles
We cannot think of God without him existing
Existence is a necessary predicate of God
Book Anselm put forward his ontological argument in
Proslogion
What does ontos mean?
Being
What is the ontological argument concerned with?
Prove gods existence by definition
In intellectu
In our mind
In re
In reality
What was Gaunilos criticism
Used a perfect island to illustrate that the ontological argument is absurd
Imagine the most perfect island
Since existence is a part of perfection it must necessarily exist or else the prettiest island would be better that the imaginary “perfect” island or Piland
Which book did Gaunilo put forward this argument in?
On behalf of the fool
What was Anselms counter argument
He wasn’t arguing about continent things like Islands but of “that which nothing greater can be conceived”
Island have no intrinsic maximum-they can always be bettered
God isn’t temporal or contingent- his existence is necessary
Anselms second form of the ontological argument
Impossible to conceive of a God not existing
god is a necessary being
Is God were a contingent being his existence would depend on something else and he wouldn’t be the greatest being because we could imagine him not existing
A necessary being is greater than a contingent one
If God is that which nothing greater can be conceived he must be necessary being
Who criticised the ontological argument
German philosopher Kant
Kanye first criticism: god has a necessary existence
To posit a triangle and reject it’s three sides is contradictory, but it isn’t contradictory to reject the triangle with it’s three sides
If you believe in god it is logical to think his existences is necessary
The fact that you can define something in an analytic way doesn’t mean it’s real
For example saying a unicorn has a horn doesn’t mean the unicorn exist
The same goes for god saying he exist doesn’t mean he actually exists
Kanye second criticism: existence is not a predicate
Existence isn’t a predicate of god because wit is possible to think of god not existing
Existing in reality doesn’t add anything to the idea it exist in thh imagination
You don’t add anything to the description of an object by saying it’s real not imaginary. An imaginary pile of coins has the same amount as the real pile
You don’t improve the description of an object by saying it exists/ to say something exist makes not difference to the definition of an object
Existence isn’t a predicate because it doesn’t add anything to the definition of an object
Anselms ontological argument
God is that which nothing greater can be conceived
It is better to exist in the mind and reality than in the mind alone
Therefore for god to be that which nothing greater can be conceived he must exist in the mind and reality
