Anselm’s ontological argument for the existence of God corners around the definition of God as “a being than which nothing greater can be conceived” as well as two modes of existence, “in the 21/07/ · The Ontological argument can only succeed using faith in something which cannot be quantified, therefore can only really be used to prove the existence of God by someone Constructed as an a priori proof Anselm’s ontological argument works from a position of faith in an attempt to strengthen his belief in the existence of God. Anselm asks the question, ‘can what I know about God, be thought of as correct?’ However, the argument does, in some forms, attempt to prove the existence of God reductio ad absurdum
Essay - Ontological Argument - Philosophical Investigations
This essay was submitted by one of my students. At first glance, the ontological argument seems a bit odd: is it really possible to argue God exists by just using defintiions and philosophical ideas? But perhaps Anselm is not trying to prove God exists, more giving grounds for havingthe id ea of a supreme being as something great, profound and on the edge of human understanding. I give my comments as the essay progresses. Arguably, we cannot derive the existence of God from His definition due to the inherently ambiguities of the predicate, existence, and indeed the nature of the subject Himself, God. Beyond this, the definition that would be used — a supremely perfect being — deeply undermines the theological idea of an epistemological space extolled by John Hickwhich allows us to develop ontological argument essay more meaningful relationship with God based on faith.
necessary through language. He makes the case that if we were to compare a log to ontological argument essay horse they might say that the horse is greater i. having movement. Likewise, if they were to compare a horse to a human, they might conclude that the human is greater i. having faculties of reason. Again, a good paragraph, which is really discussing the issue of placing a comparison greater than at the heart of the first discussion in Prosologion. And, as God is that — thus — which — nothing — greater — can — be — conceived, He must therefore exist both in the mind AND in reality, for this must be better than to exist in the mind alone and God is a supremely perfect being.
Yes, and of course, the idea of the necessary being is something Anselm discusses further in the second version of his ontological argument. Sometimes this is expressed in terms of an a analogy with a triangle. This island could either exist in the mind, or in the mind AND reality. being perfect. They are, by definition, dynamic landforms which shift and come into or go out of existence over millions of years, ontological argument essay. That is, they are wholly contingent. As aforementioned, the greatest drawback of this type of argument is its assumption that existence is a predicate at all. As an existent God appears not to add anything to our understanding of Him. Again this is an excellent point as an atheist would simply reply to Anselm that God necessarily does not exist.
For example, one can describe the perfect mermaid as being half-human, half-fish and as having existence, whilst still rejecting the concept of a perfect mermaid in its entirety, ontological argument essay. Therefore, the problems with understanding both the nature of existence and the essence of God mean that we cannot derive the existence of God from His definition, Anselm argues, that things can either be self-evidently true in themselves, or self-evidently true in themselves and to us. Although, for them to be self-evidently true ontological argument essay themselves and to us, we must have complete understanding of existence and God i, ontological argument essay.
the predicate and the subjectontological argument essay, which we do not. It is a good point to stress that something defined as self-evidently true is not the ontological argument essay as something established as self-evidently true. And the whole basis of the argument is rejected by thinkers like Aquinas who felt that God is beyond understanding and so applying such logical and linguistic categories was misplaced. What makes a relationship with God valuable is the fact ontological argument essay we freely choose to believe in it through faith. Instead, we ontological argument essay take this as the starting point for theology, in the same way that other academic subjects of integrity have axioms on which further investigation rests e. Maths, Physics, Chemistry.
Excellent essay, very clearly and throughly argued. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam, ontological argument essay. Learn how your comment data is processed. Home Digital Resources Blog Visit Peped. Essay — Ontological Argument. by peter. Study with us. Practise Questions Religious Studies Guides — Check out our great books in the Shop.
The Ontological Argument (The Introduction)
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21/07/ · The Ontological argument can only succeed using faith in something which cannot be quantified, therefore can only really be used to prove the existence of God by someone It is clear that this argument has clear relevance for more conventional ontological arguments. According to Joel Friedman (), for an argument to qualify as an ontological argument then In the Proslogion written by Anselm of Canterbury, Anselm gives his ontological argument of how God exists. This essay explains that Anselm’s argument of God’s existence works. In
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