1D- ontological Flashcards
(13 cards)
What does ontos mean
reality in Greek- wants to illustrate the reality of God
What does deductive mean
if you accept the premises you have to accept the conclusion
What does i-priori mean
no prior evidence
Give an intro to the ontological argument
One of Augustine’s 3 routes to providing existence of God- Sees existence as part of the essence of God
The truth of the conclusion (existence) may be deduced and only depends on the definition of God
The conclusions don’t depend on partial observations so come out as definitely true
Who is Anselm
Anselm - 11th century Catholic Monk
Throughout life tried to rationalize xtian belief
Analysed the concept of what it means to be the supreme principle of greatness (God)
What did Anselm say to put first
Faith comes first and is enriched by reason- argument for the believer- God is the source of all good
What is Anselm’s Proslogian
His proslogion is a prayer- where he attempts to offer single rational proof for existence of God
Explain Anselm’s argument in Proslogian 2
Premise 1: ‘God is that than nothing greater can be conceived’- rooted in nature of God
Even ‘fools’ can understand the premise that God is the greatest
Anselm believed these fools were ‘fooling’ oneself that God’s punishment could be avoided
Calls non-believers fools as ‘fools in their hearts say there’s no God’ Psalm 14
Premise 2: what is greater- something in intellectu or re- anselm uses the example of a painter- painter knows what he’s going to paint before he paints it- it’s better in reality than just in the painters head
Re is greater
Conclusion: Therefore a God in reality is greater than a God in the mind so God must exist in reality
As the ‘fool’ would have to agree with the premises they have to agree with the conclusion
Who’s Gaunilo
Contemporary catholic italian monk
How does Gaunilo respond to Anselm’s argument
Uses Anselm’s logic could describe anything as ‘the greatest’
Uses the example of an island- just because i can imagine a perfect island in my head doesn’t mean it exists in reality
Reduces Anselm’s logic to absurdity- Reductio ad absurdum
As the 2 arguments have the same logical form, they both fail
How does Anselm respond to Gaunilo in Proslogian 3
Anselm wanted to show God was a ‘necessary being’
A necessary being is clearly greater than a contingent being and as ‘God is the greatest’ he must be necessary
Necessity is a unique feature of God
Gaunilo’s island has no intrinsic maximum
Can’t add anything grater to God but can with an island
Give 3 points that agree with ‘Different religious views of the nature of God wholly impact on arguments for the existence of God’
Anselm’s def of God is based on a theistic understanding
Both cosmological and teleological arguments for existence of God require God to be powerful
ontological argument requires God to be possessing ‘all perfections’- his existence must be necessary
Give 3 points that disagree with ‘Different religious views of the nature of God wholly impact on arguments for the existence of God’
A priori is proving God exists, not whats he is like
There arguments for God’s existence can still hold if the designer is not a theistic God
Gaunilo- just because something exists in the mind doesn’t mean it’s in reality
