The Ontological Argument

Question 1

ontological argument intro

Answer 1

• ‘ontological’ comes from Greek ‘ontos’, meaning ‘essence’, ‘existence’, ‘being’
• based on the claim that God’s existence can be deduced from his definition - once God is correctly defined, there can be no doubt that he exists

Question 2

ontological argument features

Answer 2

• a priori
• deductive proof
• analytic
• example of natural theology

Question 3

ontological argument: part 1

Answer 3

1. God is a being no greater than which can be conceived
2. God exists as an idea in the understanding
3. A being that exists in the understanding and in reality is greater than a being that exists only in the understanding
4. Thus, if God exists only in the understanding, then we can conceive of something greater, namely a God who existed in reality also
5. Therefore, in order to be the greatest conceivable being, God must exist in both the understanding and reality

Question 4

Deductive

Answer 4

An argument aiming to give absolute proof. If the premises are true, then the conclusion must be true.

Question 5

Analytic statements

Answer 5

Based on logic and true by definition

Question 6

Gaunilo: ‘on behalf of the fool’

Answer 6

a reductio ad absurdum
- Gaunilo substituted a lost island for God
- the lost island is that than which nothing greater can be conceived
- it is greater to exist in reality than only in the mind
- so the lost island exists in both the mind and reality
- however, the concept of ‘the most perfect and real lost island’ makes little sense
- Anselm’s argument can be used to prove the existence of an endless number of perfect objects that don’t actually exist

Question 7

ontological argument part 2

Answer 7

1. God is a being no greater than which can be conceived
2. Beings can exist necessarily or contingently
3. A being that exists necessarily is greater than one that exists contingently
4. Therefore, to avoid contradiction, God exists necessarily

Question 8

Necessary being

Answer 8

a being whose non-existence would be contradictory

Question 9

Contingent being

Answer 9

something that may or may not exist, a being dependent on something else for its existence

Question 10

Counterargument to Gaunilo

Answer 10

• islands are contingent; God is not
• necessary existence is a predicate only of God, and not of things
• you can always add more substance to the island to make it better, whereas God is already the ultimate being

Question 11

synthetic statements

Answer 11

Statements that could be true or false and whose truth or falsity is determined by sense experience

Question 12

Descartes’s ontological argument

Answer 12

• God is a ‘supremely perfect being’ whose existence is perfection
• God must exist just as a triangle must have its internal angles sum to 180˚
• existence is a predicate of God

Question 13

Criticisms from Kant

Answer 13

(in regard to Descartes’s ontological argument, but also applies to Anselm)

1. existence is not a real predicate, because it adds nothing to the concept of a thing
   - example of 100 Thalers
   - the only way to know of God’s existence is by sense experience; logic alone gets one nowhere
2. We can acecpt that God ‘exists necessarily’ as a proposition, but that does not mean God exists in reality
   - the ontological argument omits the important word ‘if’
   - existence can only be proved through sense experience and not logic solely

Question 14

predicate

Answer 14

gives us information about the subject

Question 15

subject

Answer 15

who or what the sentence is about

Question 16

Strengths

Answer 16

• deductive with no ambiguity, and so can be used as proof - does not rely upon fallible factors such as human observation
• logically coherent
• a priori - based on reason and logic

Question 17

Weaknesses

Answer 17

• existence is not a predicate
• even if ‘existing necessarily’ is part of the definition of God, it does not follow that God exists in reality
• any attempt to define God would be to limit God, but Anselm gives God a definition