Ontological Argument

Question 1

What did Anselm argue?

Answer 1

• Something can exist only in our minds and be strictly imaginary OR it can exist in our minds but also in reality -> something that we can imagine, but that’s also real
• he argues that we define God as the greatest thing that we can conjure up in our minds, the only thing that could possibly be greater than him would be a real version.
• anselm defined god as “that than which nothing greater can be conceived” This means god exists in the mind and in reality as well

Question 2

What does Descartes argue?

Answer 2

• he argued that it was possible to determine the essential nature of something was independently of knowing whether t existed. He used the illustration of a triangle whose essence was three angles that added up to 180°. The idea of a triangle could be separated from the idea of the three angles. However, that does not demand that triangles actually exist.
• he could conceive of his own existence so he could also conceive of the existence of a perfect being. When he considered the idea of a supremely perfect being, he argued that existence was an aspect of perfection.
• he described God as a “supremely perfect being”

Question 3

Who challenged Anselms argument?

Answer 3

Gaunilo

Question 4

What is Gaunilo’s argument?

Answer 4

• he argued that you could replace the word “God” with anything which would reach the same conclusion
• Gaunilo argued that you could replace the word “God” with the “greatest conceivable lost island” and it would lead to an argument which has the same form as Anselms with true premises, and yet which leads to a false conclusion

Question 5

What is an answer to Gaunilo’s argument?

Answer 5

• A criticism of Gaunilo is that Anselm is talking about God whereas Gaunilo is talking about a lost island and Plantinga pointed out that we can always think of a greater island e.g one with more trees, a bigger island etc.
• An island can’t have an ‘intrinsic maximum’
• Anselm also argued that the argument only works for necessary beings, which there is only one and that is God

Question 6

What is necessary existence?

Answer 6

Where something relies on NOTHING to exist

Question 7

What is a contingent being?

Answer 7

Where things depend on something else for its existence e.g an island needs the surrounding sea to exist