The Ontological Argument Flashcards
Who created the argument?
Anselm
What is the OA based on?
The claim that God’s existence can be deduced from his definition - that once God is correctly defined, there can be no doubt that he exists.
Explain the meaning of …
the proposition ‘God exists’ is a priori / deductive
It can be known to be true without reference to sense experience, just by thinking about God’s nature.
Explain the claim ‘God exists’ in terms of a predicate
In the proposition ‘God exists’, the subject ‘God’ contains the predicate ‘exists’ so God must exist.
True or False
God existence is a contingent truth
False
It is a necessary truth.
Explain the OA from Proslogium 2
P1 - God is a being than which nothing greater can be conceived.
P2 - This is a definition which even a fool understands in his mind, even though he doesn’t understand it to exist in reality.
P3 - There is a difference between having an idea in the mind and knowing that this idea exists in reality.
P4 - e.g. a painter has an idea in his mind of what he wants to paint but when he has painted in, that idea now exists both in his mind and in reality.
P5 - It is greater to exist both in the mind and in reality than to exist only in the mind.
P6 - If God existed only in the mind, I could think of something greater, namely a God who existed in reality also.
C - Therefore in order to be the greatest conceivable being, God must exist both in the mind and in reality.
Explain premise 1
Anselm means ‘greatest’ in every possible respect - God is omnipotent and omniscient and must possess every great-making quality to the highest possible level.
Explain premise 5
You can imagine the necessities of life, such as food and water, but to be able to eat and drink in reality is surely a much greater thing than simply thinking about it.
What are the 2 essential premises and conclusion of the OA argument?
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.
What is Gaunilo’s ‘perfect lost island’ argument?
P1 - It is possible to conceive of the most perfect and real lost island.
P2 - It is greater to exist in reality than to exist only in the mind.
C - Therefore the most perfect and real lost island must exist.
What is Gaunilo’s argument against Anselm?
A’s argument can be used to prove the existence of an endless number of perfect objects - so the real fool would be anybody who argued in this way.
What is A’s response to G? (in terms of G’s argument)
P1 - To be perfect, an island would have to be ‘that island than which no greater can be conceived’.
P2 - An island than which no greater can be conceived would have to exist necessarily, since a contingent island would be less perfect than an island that existed necessarily.
P3 - But islands are contingent and so cannot exist necessarily.
C - Therefore the logic of the argument related to a perfect island does not apply to God.
What does Proslogium 3 state?
P1 - God is the greatest conceivable being.
P2 - The greatest conceivable being cannot be conceived not to exist.
C1 - - Therefore God and God alone possesses necessary existence - God cannot not exist.
