Ontological arguments

Question 1

What is an ontological argument?

Answer 1

Ontological arguments are arguments that explores the nature of existence and are based on the definition of God and its implications, it uses reason to provide an explanation that God must exist.

Question 2

What is a priori argument?

Answer 2

Ontological arguments are priori arguments- this means that it draws conclusions through the use of reason.

Question 3

What are the main points of Anselm’s ontological argument?

Answer 3

1) God is a being greater than which cannot be conceived.
2) The concept is coherent and exists in all minds
3) Existing in reality is greater than existing in the mind alone.
- >God must exists in reality, as well as in the mind .

Question 4

What is the first form of Anselms’ argument?

Answer 4

The first form states that God is ‘that than which nothing greater can be thought.’
A real, existent being is greater than an imaginary being.
->Therefore, God must exists because the concept of God is not as great as the real existent God.

Question 5

What is Anselm’s analogy of the painter?

Answer 5

The painting exists first in his mind, then in reality once he paints it-it is greater once it exists in reality.

Question 6

What does Anselm conclude?

Answer 6

Anselm concludes that it is greater to exist in reality than to exist merely as a concept. Therefore, God exists in reality by definition.

• the existence of God is within the concept of God.
• links to analogy of the square: the square is 4 sided and all interior angles = 360
• > Therefore, you can know that squares have angles adding up to 360 merely by understanding the concept of a square.

Question 7

What are the main points of Descartes ontological argument?

Answer 7

1) I have an idea of supremely perfect being
2) Necessary existence is a perfection
- >A supremely perfect being exits necessarily, God

Question 8

What does Descartes conclude?

Answer 8

Descartes concludes that God is the only concept which contains existence
e.g. a mountain contains the concept of a valley.

Question 9

What are the evaluations of the ontological argument?

Answer 9

• Guanilo argues that the existence of God could not be established through reason alone.You can discuss the properties of a concept but that does not show that it exists. ‘OVERLOAD OBJECTION’
• Kant argues that existence is not a ‘predicate’