st anselm onto Flashcards
St Anselm ontological argument
Based on the idea that that it is greater to exist than not to exist.
Argument goes as followed
P1 God is defined as the greatest possible being that than being nothing greater can be conceived
P2 even an atheist the fool can conceive of God as the greatest possible being it is a coherent concept which exist in our understanding
P3 it is greater to exist in the understanding and in reality, rather than in the understanding alone
Conc therefore the greatest possible being God must exist in the understanding of reality.
explanation of the fool ie the atheist
Anselm notes that an atheist who he refers to as a fool can conceive of a greatest possible being God but denied that such a being exists. Anselm suggests that this is a contradiction because existent god is greater than a non-existent god, so a non-existence god isn’t the greatest possible being.
which universe is God the greatest conceivable being?
Description of God-
Universe 1: omniscient, omnipotent, the creator etc, exists in peoples mind, doesn’t exist in reality
Universe 2: omniscient, omnipotent, the creator etc, exists in peoples mind, exist in reality
Which God is greater?
Universe 2 because God actually created the world knows everything etc
Conc- to be the greatest conceivable being, God must exist in reality as well as have all the perfections.
why does anselm’s onto argument work?
determining what is essential to this concept.
other concepts- bachelor.
It’s essential that the concept of bachelor contains the idea of unmarried and man.
Similarly, the concept of god the greatest conceivable being contains the idea of existence.
Gaunilo’s criticism
He suggests that anything can be defined into existing using Anselm’s argument. Gaunilo construct the following counterexample to highlight the absurdity of Anselm’s reasoning.
argument- gaunilo
perfect island- perfect god?
P1. One can imagine an island greater than which nothing can be conceived the most perfect island conceived greater than all other lands
P2. The perfect island exists as an idea in the mind.
P3. It is greater to exist in reality as well as in the mind rather than only in the mind
P4. If the perfect island existed only in the mind then we could conceive of a greater island ie one which existed in reality
P5. There can be no island greater than the perfect island
Conc- therefore this perfect island must exist both in reality and in the mind.
why does it work?
Gaunilo’s argument follows the same logical form as Anselm’s argument to demonstrate that simply conceiving of a perfect x does not prove that the perfect x exists.
This form of argument could define anything into existence the perfect man the perfect unicorn the prefect spaceship. Since we can deny that the perfect island exists Gaunilo’s argument shows that we can also deny that a perfect being God exist.
response to perfect island
Island and other things such as men unicorn spaceships and so on are not perfect by definition god is perfect by definition. Islands are contingent and can be affected by other things whereas God is a necessary being: he could not have been any different as he is perfect by definition. Thus, we can conceive of the perfect island not existing because islands don’t have perfection as part of their definition whereas God does.
