ontological argument

Question 1

what is the ontological argument based on?

Answer 1

• that Gods existence can be deduced from his definition

Question 2

what does the basis of the ontological argument claim?

Answer 2

• God exists as a priori/deductive
• it can be true without reference to sense experience
• Gods existence is a necessary truth not a contingent one

Question 3

what does the proposition ‘God exists’ show?

Answer 3

• the subject ‘God’ contains the predicate ‘exists’ so God must exist

Question 4

what are the key premises of the ontological argument?

Answer 4

P1- God is the greatest conceivable being
P2- it is greater to exist in reality than to exist only in the mind
C- therefore as the greatest conceivable being, God must exist in reality

Question 5

how did Gaunilo criticise Anslems ontological argument?

Answer 5

• he gave an ontological argument for the existence of a ‘perfect lost island’
• an island of which nothing greater to be conceived

Question 6

what were the premises of Guanilo’s criticism?

Answer 6

P1- its possible to conceive of the most perfect and real lost island
P2- its greater to exist in reality than to exist only in the mind
P3- therefore the most perfect lost island must exist in reality

Question 7

what type of argument does Guanilo use?

Answer 7

• ‘a reductio ad absurdum’

Question 8

what is Guanilo suggesting in his criticism of the ontological argument?

Answer 8

• that Anslems argument could be used to prove the existence of endless amounts of perfect objects
• we can see a perfect island doesn’t exist so Anselms argument fails

Question 9

what does Anselm reply to Guanilo?

Answer 9

P1- a perfect island would be what nothing greater can be conceived
P2- this would then have to exist necessarily
P3- islands are contingent, not necessary
C- the logic of the perfect lost island doesn’t apply to God

Question 10

what is Kants first objection to the Ontological argument?

Answer 10

• existence is not a predicate

Question 11

what does Kant mean by saying existence is not a predicate?

Answer 11

• saying He exists adds nothing to the concept of a thing
• real predicates give us knowledge of a subject
• predicates of Gods omnipotence add to our concept of God
• the only way we know he exists is through sense experience

Question 12

what is Kants second objection to the ontological argument?

Answer 12

• we can accept the proposition that ‘existing necessarily’ is part of what we mean by God but it does not follow He exists in reality

Question 13

what does Kant mean through his second objection?

Answer 13

• Ontological argument claims ‘God exists necessarily’ which is analytic
• ‘a bachelor is an unmarried man’- analytic
• we know bachelors exists through sense experience
• relied on the word ‘if’, ‘if’ there’s a God

Question 14

what is a synthetic argument?

Answer 14

• determined by sense experience

Question 15

What are strengths of the ontological argument?

Answer 15

• it is deductive- if it succeeds it’s proof of existence

- for those with faith it is clearly true as it’s an expression of their faith

Question 16

What is the definition of God?

Answer 16

• ‘than that which nothing greater can be conceived’

Question 17

What does Karl Barth say about the ontological argument?

Answer 17

• Anselm’s argument is about faith not logic

Question 18

What does Barth say about Anselm’s definition of God?

Answer 18

• Anselm’s definition of God was not based on logic, it was given to him by a religious revelation

Question 19

what is an a priori argument?

Answer 19

• relies on logical deduction and not on sense experience

Question 20

what is a deductive argument?

Answer 20

• argument where if the premises are true, the conclusion must be true

Question 21

what are weaknesses of the ontological argument?

Answer 21

• the two objections made by Kant
• any attempt to define God would be to limit God, Anselm defines God as ‘that than which nothing greater can be conceived’