REASON- Ontological Argument Flashcards
(4 cards)
Summarise the argument
P1) I have an idea of god, as a perfect being
P2) a perfect being must have all perfections
P3) existence is a perfection
C) god exists
What is the criticism of ‘the perfect island’
Gaunilo argued that by this logic a perfect island must exist. Descartes might argue back that the idea of god isn’t like a the idea of an island. An island isn’t an intellectual object the same way a triangle is, so we cannot discover its features by just thinking. Also, the idea of a perfect island will differ between minds. However, it can be argued back that the idea of god isn’t like the idea of a triangle as it’s vague, not intelligible and also differs between minds
What is the criticism that existence is not a predicate
Put forward by many including Kant, Russell, Gassendi.
Existence isn’t a quality of an object- it’s not a predicate. This undermines Descartes argument which is based on existence being a quality of god
What is the empiricist response of Humes fork
The existence of any object will always be a matter of fact therefore any claim will need investigation to discover its truth, not just reason as Descartes is attempting.
According to Humes fork the most that Descartes ontological argument could show is that the idea of god contains the idea of existence. However, this doesn’t show that god actually exists.
