The Ontological Argument Flashcards
(21 cards)
What does the argument pertain to?
The nature of God
What kind of argument is it?
A priori
What was the book Anselm wrote about his understanding called and when did it come about?
Proslogian
1077
Psalm
The fool hath said in his heart there is no God
What was Anselms definition of God?
‘That than which nothing greater can be conceived’
According to Anselm God was what?
The most perfect being infinitely beyond anything we can think of
Why can God not only exist in one’s mind?
Because then He is not the greatest thing
What did Kant believe about the ontological argument?
‘Existence is not a predicate’
It cannot be simply listed as one of Gods attributes
What did Aquinas believe about the Ontological argument?
It was, at best, hypothetical. He believed that it is not impossible to have a concept of God not existing
Synthetic statement
A sentence additional information
Analytic statements
‘Bachelors are unmarried men’
Gaunilo’s belief on the ontological argument
He did not question God’s existence but disagreed with Anselm
Gaunilo’s analogy
The perfect island
He said that we cannot bring something into existence by describing it as the greatest of something.
Necessary being
A being whose existence is not contingent on anything else and cannot be non-existent.
What was Gaunilo’s response called
On behalf of the fool
What was Descartes book called?
Meditations
Descartes ontological argument
God is by definition perfect, so he has to have all perfections, and if he has all perfections he must exist.
What was Descartes triangle analogy?
If a triangle does not have three sides it is not a triangle, if God does not exist, it isn’t God
What was Kant’s analogy?
An imaginary 100 Russian dollars is not added to if we state that it exists
What was Bertrand Russels contribution?
The king of France is bald
There is not king of France, nor is he bald or not bald
Norman Malcolm
Existence is not a predicate in the USUAL sense but can be when applied to God as He is the only necessary being
