ontological argument

Question 1

St Anselm

Answer 1

p1. by definition God is a being greater than which cannot be conceived
p2. we can coherently conceive of such a being
p3. it is greater to exist in reality than to exist only in the mind
p4. therefore God must exist

Question 2

Descartes

Answer 2

p1. I have the idea of God
p2. the idea of God is the idea of a supremely perfect being
p3. a supremely perfect being does not lack any perfection
p4. existence if a perfection
c1. therefore, God exists

Question 3

Malcom

Answer 3

p1. either God exists or God does not exist
p2. God cannot come into existence or go out of existence
p3. if god exists, god cannot cease to exist
c1. therefore if God exists, God’s existence is necessary
p4. if God does not exist, God cannot come into existence
c2. therefore, if God does not exist, Gods existence is impossible
c3. therefore, Gods existence is either necessary or impossible

Question 4

Gaunilos perfect Island objection

Answer 4

p1. a perfect island can exist either in the mind only, or is actually real
p2. it is greater to exist than to only exist in the mind alone
p3. if a perfect island only exists in the mind, then we could imagine an island greater (one that actually exists)
p4. a perfect island has to be the most perfect thing imaginable
c1. therefore a perfect island must actually exist

Question 5

Empircist objections to a priori arguments for existence: Hume

Answer 5

p1. nothing that is distinctly conceivable implies a contradiction
p2. whatever we conceive as existent, we can also conceive as non-existent
c1. therefore, there is no being whose non-existence implies a contradiction

Question 6

Empiricist objections to a priori arguments for existence: Kant

Answer 6

> existence is not a predicate
- the ontological arguments misunderstand what existence is
- things don’t ‘have’ existence in the same way that they have other properties, so existence can’t be a perfection or make something greater
- to claim “god does not exist” is a contradiction
(Anselm and Descartes take ‘god exists’ to be an analytic statement)
- an analytic judgement unpacks a concept, existence doesn’t add anything to it at all

Question 7

Empiricist objections to a priori arguments for existence: Kant -> premise form

Answer 7

p1. if God does not exist, is a contradiction, then God exists is an analytic truth
p2. if God exists is an analytic truth, then existence is part of the concept of God
p3. existence is not a predicate, something that can be added onto another concept
c1. therefore existence is not part of the concept of God, so god exists is not an analytic truth
c2. therefore, God does not exist is not a contradiction
c3. therefore, we cannot deduce the existence of God from the concept of God
c4. therefore, ontological arguments cannot prove that God exists