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Ontological Argument Flashcards

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1
Q

Who created the original Ontological Argument and in what year?

A

St Anselm in 1077 AD.

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2
Q

What does ‘ontology’ refer to?

A

The nature of being, what exists.

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3
Q

Why is the Ontological Argument controversial, even among the religious?

A

Some religious philosophers doubt its logical validity, even if they believe in God.

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4
Q

What kind of argument is the Ontological Argument in terms of logic?

A

A priori and deductive.

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5
Q

What is an a priori argument?

A

One that is based on reason alone and not dependent on empirical evidence.

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6
Q

What is the strength of an a priori argument like the Ontological Argument?

A

It cannot be undermined by new scientific evidence.

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7
Q

What is a deductive argument?

A

An argument where if the premises are true, the conclusion must be true.

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8
Q

What are the two ways to critique a deductive argument?

A

Deny the validity or deny the soundness (truth of the premises).

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9
Q

What is the basic structure of Anselm’s Ontological Argument?

A

P1: God is the greatest conceivable being.
P2: It is greater to exist in reality than in the mind alone.
P3: God exists in the mind.
C: Therefore, God exists in reality.

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10
Q

What analogy does Anselm use to explain the mind vs reality distinction?

A

A painter conceiving an image before painting it.

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11
Q

Why does Anselm reference Psalm 14:1 (“the fool says in his heart, ‘there is no God’”)?

A

To argue that even atheists conceive of God in their minds.

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12
Q

What contradiction does Anselm see in denying God’s existence?

A

To conceive of a greater being than the greatest being is incoherent; so denying God is self-contradictory.

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13
Q

What is Anselm’s famous quote about the greatest conceivable being?

A

“That, than which nothing greater can be conceived, cannot exist in the understanding alone… Hence, there is no doubt that there exists a being, than which nothing greater can be conceived, and it exists both in the understanding and reality.”

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14
Q

What is the focus of Proslogion Chapter 3?

A

That God is not just existent, but necessarily existent.

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15
Q

What is a necessary being?

A

One whose non-existence is impossible and who depends on nothing else for its existence.

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16
Q

Why is a necessary being greater than a contingent one?

A

Because it is unlimited by dependence or possibility of non-existence.

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17
Q

What did Malcolm and Hartshorne contribute to Anselm’s argument?

A

They emphasized that God’s necessity, not just existence, is what makes the argument stronger.

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18
Q

How does Anselm respond to the claim that God is beyond human understanding?

A

He uses the analogy of the sun—we cannot look at it directly but can see its light, just as we can partially grasp God as the greatest conceivable being.

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19
Q

What analogy does Anselm use to support partial understanding of God?

A

Just as we can’t gaze at the sun but see its light, we can’t fully know God but can understand that he is the greatest being.

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20
Q

What is Gaunilo’s main objection to P3 of Anselm’s argument?

A

That God cannot be in the mind/understanding if He is beyond our understanding.

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21
Q

Which other philosopher agrees with Gaunilo that God is beyond our understanding?

A

Thomas Aquinas.

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22
Q

What does Aquinas argue about the concept of God?

A

Not everyone understands ‘God’ as something than which nothing greater can be thought.

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23
Q

What is Gaunilo’s quote expressing doubt about the concept of the greatest being?

A

“Of God, or a being greater than all others, I could not conceive at all.”

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24
Q

What is Peter van Inwagen’s response to Gaunilo?

A

A full understanding of God isn’t required; partial understanding of the concept is enough for Anselm’s argument.

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25
Why is Gaunilo’s critique seen as a straw man fallacy?
Because he assumes Anselm’s argument requires full conception of God rather than just the idea of the greatest conceivable being.
26
What theological view supports Gaunilo’s criticism that reasoning about God is impossible?
Apophatic theology (via Pseudo-Dionysius).
27
What is Pseudo-Dionysius' key claim about God and reasoning?
God is beyond all human concepts and is 'beyond assertion and denial.'
28
What is Gaunilo’s ‘Lost Island’ analogy intended to show?
That Anselm’s logic leads to absurd results if applied to anything else, like a perfect island.
29
What does the ‘overload objection’ mean in relation to the Ontological Argument?
It suggests reality would be overloaded with all perfect things if Anselm’s logic were valid.
30
Why does Anselm argue the Lost Island analogy fails?
Because islands are contingent and depend on other things, unlike God who is necessary.
31
Why can't contingent beings' existence be proven a priori?
Because their existence depends on something else and is not logically necessary.
32
How does Anselm distinguish God from all other things?
God’s definition includes necessary existence; other things (like islands) do not.
33
What is a key evaluation supporting Anselm’s reply to Gaunilo?
It highlights that only a necessary being like God can be argued to exist a priori.
34
What is a critical evaluation that Anselm doesn’t fully address?
That proving God as a necessary being doesn’t prove that God actually exists.
35
What was Descartes’ aim with his version of the Ontological Argument?
To reinforce it using rationalist epistemology and intuitive knowledge.
36
What is Descartes’ approach to knowledge (vs. Scholasticism)?
He favored direct intellectual intuition over subject-predicate logic.
37
What example does Descartes use to explain intuitive knowledge?
A triangle—just as a triangle must have three sides, God must have existence.
38
What is Descartes’ core Ontological Argument?
P1: I have an idea of a supremely perfect being containing all perfections. P2: Existence is a perfection. C: Therefore, God exists.
39
What is the significance of Descartes’ short argument form?
It reflects his view that God's existence is self-evident and intuitively known.
40
What is Hume’s main criticism of the ontological argument?
Existence is a matter of fact, not logical necessity; we can always conceive of something not existing.
41
What is Hume’s Fork?
The division between ‘relations of ideas’ (analytic, a priori) and ‘matters of fact’ (synthetic, a posteriori).
42
Why can’t God’s existence be known a priori according to Hume?
Because existence is a synthetic truth and can only be known a posteriori.
43
Why does Hume think “necessary existence” is meaningless?
Because we can conceive of the non-existence of anything; necessity applies only to logical truths, not matters of fact.
44
What is Kant’s objection to existence as a predicate?
Existence doesn’t add to the concept of a thing; it doesn’t describe a property or make something more perfect.
45
How does Kant argue against the ontological argument using 100 thalers?
The concept of 100 thalers is the same whether or not they exist; existence adds nothing to the concept.
46
How does Kant’s view challenge Anselm and Descartes?
They treat existence as a defining feature of God, but Kant argues that existence isn’t a real predicate.
47
How did Descartes avoid Kant’s criticism?
By rejecting subject-predicate logic; he argues God’s necessary existence is perceived intellectually, not predicated.
48
How does Malcolm defend necessary existence as a predicate?
Contingent existence isn’t a predicate, but necessary existence is, since it expresses self-contained being.
49
What’s the significance of necessary existence according to Malcolm?
If God exists, God must exist necessarily; God cannot not exist if God exists at all.
50
What is Malcolm’s version of the ontological argument?
God’s existence is either necessary or impossible; if not impossible, then necessary.
51
Why does Malcolm think God must exist?
Because the concept of God isn’t self-contradictory, so God must exist necessarily.
52
How does Malcolm interpret Anselm’s reply to Gaunilo?
If God can be conceived at all, then God must exist necessarily.
53
What is Kant’s counter to Malcolm’s ontological argument?
Showing that a being must exist necessarily doesn’t prove it exists—only that if it exists, it does so necessarily.
54
Why does Kant think the ontological argument fails?
Because logical necessity in thought doesn’t imply actual existence in reality.
55
What is the key quote from Kant’s criticism?
"The unconditioned necessity of judgements is not the same as an absolute necessity of things."
56
How does Malcolm respond to Kant’s criticism?
He argues it’s incoherent to say 'God necessarily exists' and yet 'possibly does not exist'—that’s a contradiction.
57
What does Hartshorne add to Malcolm’s response?
Contingent existence cannot apply to God; denying God's necessary existence means calling it logically impossible.
58
What is the insight behind Malcolm’s key premise?
God is either logically necessary or logically impossible—there is no middle ground.
59
How does Hick critique Malcolm and the ontological argument?
God’s non-existence is possible in an ‘ontological’ sense, not a logical contradiction.
60
What is ontological necessity (Hick’s term)?
A self-explaining, independent being that could exist, but whose non-existence isn’t logically impossible.
61
Why does Hick think Malcolm equivocates?
He shifts between ontological and logical necessity without justification.
62
What does Hick argue about the ontological argument’s conclusion?
It only shows that if God exists, then God exists in a special way—not that God necessarily exists.
63
How does this support Gaunilo’s original insight?
It reinforces the idea that a being’s concept in the mind doesn’t guarantee real existence.
64
What is Hartshorne’s final defense of the ontological argument?
If God’s existence is not logically impossible, it must be logically necessary—there’s no coherent third option.
65
What are some ways to challenge God’s logical possibility?
Arguments like the paradox of the stone, Euthyphro dilemma, or logical problem of evil.
66
Why are these challenges important?
If God is incoherent, then the ontological argument fails at its first premise—God cannot be conceived.
67
What is the final limitation accepted by modern defenders like Plantinga?
The argument doesn’t prove God exists, but shows belief in God is rational if God’s existence is logically possible.
68
What does Plantinga say the ontological argument proves?
"If it is rational to believe God is possible, then it is rational to believe God exists."
69
What was Anselm’s original insight, echoed by Malcolm and Plantinga?
If God is even conceivable, then God must exist.

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