Many recent authors have interpreted this argument as a modal one. The form of the argument is that of a reductio ad absurdum argument. Anselms ontological argument for the existence of god anselms argument is an a priori argument. What is the ontological argument for the existence of god.
Anselm to contemporary philosophers alvin plantinga, richard taylor on. The ontological arguments of god are many, the weaknesses they suffer can be found in this reference. Kants argument that existence is not a determination. Newest ontologicalargument questions philosophy stack. Ontological arguments results for peini yu score for this quiz.
Ontological arguments are one of the main classes of arguments for the existence of god, and have been influential from the middle ages right up until our own time. My goal here is to focus on spinozas ontological argument. Contemporary argument, that presented by alvin plantinga in. Anselm began with the concept of god as that than which nothing greater can be conceived. The author provides and analyses a critical taxonomy of those versions of the argument that have been advanced in recent philosophical literature, as well as of those historically important versions found in the work of. Anselm when discussing topics with his pupils mainly focused on the nature and the existence of god. Original german text available online, 628 kb pdf file, maintained. Keep in mind that there are ontological arguments for the existence of the universe or ontological arguments for the existence of certain fundamental rules of physics, and many other examples. Ontological arguments the term is kants appear in his work. I notice that this is still arguing that god must exist in order. This accessible volume offers a comprehensive survey and assessment of them starting with a sequence of chapters charting their history from anselm and aquinas, via descartes. Ontological arguments are arguments, for the conclusion that god exists, from premises which are supposed to derive from some source other than observation of the world e.
Analysis of the ontological argument philosophy essay. Ontological argument, argument that proceeds from the idea of god to the reality of god. Oppenheimer thinking machines corporation and edward n. On inference from noninstantiated properties philsci. These arguments proceed from a premise that asserts of a set of properties that it satisfies certain conditions, to the conclusion that there exists some thing that exemplifies that set of properties. Additional gift options are available when buying one ebook at a time.
The ontological argument is an argument based not on observation of the world like the cosmological and teleological arguments but rather on reason alone. A critique of the plantinga version of the modal ontological. Given descartes views about the foundational character of our knowledge of god, theistic argu. But this is questionable reliance there is a controversy as to whether one can actually infer. Mathematical ontic arguments are both inter esting in their own right and similar in an interesting re spect to the modest ontological argument we shall examine in part 111. In other words, ontological arguments are arguments from what are typically alleged to be none but analytic, a priori and necessary premises to the conclusion that god exists. Ontological argument ppt free download as powerpoint presentation. I have to say, i think several of the objections presented against the ontological argument basically miss the mark. Anselms reasoning was that, if a being existed only in the mind but not in reality, then a greater being was conceivable a being which exists both in the mind. Maydole ontological arguments are deductive arguments for the existence of god from general metaphysical principles and other assumptions about the nature or essence of god. Unlike many arguments, the ontological argument argues from god rather than to him. A central thesis of the book is that ontological arguments have no value in the debate between theists and atheists. Ontological arguments stanford encyclopedia of philosophy.
Pdf ontological arguments are arguments, for the conclusion that god exists, from premises. Anselms ontological argument for the existence of god. The ontological argument in contrast to the previous three arguments which attempt to prove the existence of god by relying on sense experience known as a posteriori arguments, the ontological argument from the greek, ontos. Yet many people seem to have a hard time understanding it. Anselm 10331109 as an allegedly irrefutable proof of gods existence. An ontological argument is a philosophical argument for the existence of god that uses ontology. In the course of telling the more detailed story, i shall provide some commentary that lays out in very rough form the ontology the theory of being i ascribe to anslem. Whether one considers the ontological argument to be a good one or not, it is no real wonder that it has always been almost exclusively a christian argument.
Anselm began with the concept of god as that than which nothing greater can be. How does the ontological argument support the existence of god. The ontological argument for the existence of god is a classical christian argument that contends that the very concept of god logically and necessarily demands existence. Ontological arguments syracuse universify in this paper 1 shall delimit an infinite class of valid arguments i shall call ontic arguments. Ontological argument ppt philosophical methodology. Ontological arguments and belief in god by graham oppy. The first, and bestknown, ontological argument was proposed by st. Ontological pluralism is the doctrine that there are different ways or modes of being. The premises the conclusion of the ontological argument, as formulated by alvin plantinga and others, depends on a form of modal axiom s5 which contends that if the truth of a proposition is possible, then it is possible in all worlds. The ontological argument baggaley 2 look at some of the major arguments for and against the ontological argument. Alvin plantinga, have even judged kants dictum to be totally irrelevant to.
Most modern philosophers, however, reject the argument at least, in its simplest version as inherently fallacious. This book so small that you can fit it in your back pocket. One supreme and perfect being who is three distinct persons. Anselm of canterbury, who defined god as the greatest conceivable being. The argument is essentially that the concept of a supreme being must include that beings existence, and since the supreme being is defined as the greatest conceivable, and a being that exists is clearly greater than one that does not, then a supreme being must exist. A sound argument is one which is both valid and contains true premises chapter 2, writing philosophy.
Gaunilo, a monk and contemporary of anselm, thought the argument could prove that the mythical lost island of oceanea surpassing all others in natural riches must exist. Plantinga and taylor did a fine job compiling parts of famous philosophical works that reflect the ontological argument, both for and against it. The ontological argument for the existence of god anselm of canterbury the ontological argument for the existence of god, as it is found in its classical form, was first formulated by the eleventh century benedictine monk, archbishop and theologian, st anselm of canterbury 10331109. Clean without writing dare i say like new except it is almost 50 years old. The ontological argument revision sheet with evaluation.
Anselm of canterbury in 1078 ce, based off of ideas seeded by plato and st. Anselm sought out to prove gods existence strictly through reason and rationalism alone. Anselms ontological argument bibliography philpapers. It is supposed to show that god exists there are different versions, but they all argue something like. Zalta philosophy department stanford university saint anselm of canterbury o ered several arguments for the existence of god. Ontological arguments are one of the main classes of arguments for the existence of god, and have been influential from the middle ages right up until the present time. Cambridge core epistemology and metaphysics ontological arguments edited by graham oppy. The ontological argument for the existence of god has enjoyed a.
A priori arguments i unlike a posteriori arguments, i am only aware of two a priori arguments i we have already encountered the trademark argument, which says that god exists because only an in nite being could give me my idea of in nity. The ontological argument for the existence of god was first developed by st. William lane craig considers alvin plantingas version of the ontological argument as having the best chance of being cogent wlc 2004, p. Anselm and aquinas daniel bonevac 1 anselms ontological arguments anselm 10331109, archbishop of canterbury, presents one of the most famous arguments for gods existence. That phrase, popular and useful as it is, probably doesnt bear up very well under close logical scrutiny for it seems to imply that there is some argument that is the ontological argument, an argument of which the eleventhcentury argument, the. Pdf the ontological argument and the existence of god david. In order to show this, the individual premises of the ontological argument must be evaluated. More specifically, ontological arguments tend to start with an a priori theory about the organization of the universe. Jan 07, 2012 alvin plantingas modal ontological s argument is a irrefutable logical argument for the existence of god. The ontological argument is an idea in religious philosophy. Ontological arguments are deductive arguments for the existence of god from general metaphysical principles and other assumptions about the nature or essence of god.
Ontological argument the ontological argument is widely thought to have been first clearly articulated by st. It is concerned with what kind of world we are investigating, with the nature. Some of this article goes well beyond the information necessary for gce a2, but if you can manage it, well worth a read. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. We examine the famous ontological argument in proslogium ii. Many arguments fall under the category of the ontological, and they tend to involve arguments about the state of being or existing. This accessible volume offers a comprehensive survey and assessment of them, starting with a sequence of chapters charting their history from anselm and aquinas, via descartes. Historically, however, the term is inextricably associated with the famous argument presented in anselms proslogion chapter ii, and with. Anselm was the archbishop of canterbury who lived from 10331109 a.
Ontological arguments similar to anslems ontological argument and godels ontological argument implicitly rely on the paradox of entailment and inference from a noninstantiated property. To think of such a being as existing only in thought and not also in reality involves a. Outline the four classic proofs for gods existence. The father of ontological arguments is often considered to be anselm of canterbury who was a monk and abbot of bec in normandy, and archbishop of canterbury from 1093 to 1109. This procedure would make good sense if one thought that there is a natural kind ontological arguments which our practice carves out, but for which is hard to specify defining. History of ontological arguments for existence of god, from anselm, kant, malcolm, findlay to plantinga gods existence is logically necessary. It is the argument that, if one understands what is meant by the word god and follows it out to the logical conclusion, it is impossible for such a being not to exist. Descartes develops two main arguments for the existence of god the causal argument of meditation iii and the ontological argument of meditation v raising questions about the order and relation between them. It is at once a virtue and challenge of this book that we are. The best known of these are the cosmological, teleological, moral and ontological arguments respectively. Saint anselm of canterbury o ered several arguments for the existence of god.
A detailed sheet giving an overview of the argument, with reference to several commentators and philosophers. Anselm had prayed for a single, short argument by which to prove almost everything about god. The ontological argument for gods existence was first laid out in the form we see today by anselm of canterbury 10331109 who was a monk living in france and england and writing about. It offers a comprehensive discussion of one of the most famous arguments for the existence of god. Ontological arguments classic philosophical arguments kindle. The relevance of kants objection to anselms ontological argument. The ontological assumptions prior to clarifying the type of ontology used in these studies, it is important to define ontology. If by proving the ontological argument false, i do not prove the conclusion false, just the means of reaching the conclusion. Ontological arguments are arguments, for the conclusion that god. In contemporary guise, it is the doctrine that a logically perspicuous description of reality will use multiple quantifiers which cannot be thought of as ranging over a single domain.
We may summarise them as arguments from creation, design, moral law and being. In this paper, i examine kants famous objection to the ontological argument. What was particularly intetesting was seeing alvin plantingas rebuttal of the argument he would later come to support, although only after tweaking it which i think has really transormed it and is the most convincing form of it that ive ever read. Previous commentators have not adequately explained what this claim means, how it undermines the ontological argument, or how kant argues for it. Anselm begins with a stipulative definition of god as a being than which no greater being can be conceived. Together, these arguments help to form the basis of a great deal of contemporary christian apologetics. More specifically, ontological arguments tend to start with an a priori theory. The ontological argument and the existence of god the ontological argument has been described as the most interesting and remarkable of the traditional. The ontological argument 3 the ontological argument explained the ontological argument for the existence of a monotheistic god was first put forth by st. Atheist debates ontological arguments matt dillahunty. The ontological argument peter millican any argument which attempts to prove gods existence a priori based only on his nature can be termed an ontological argument. This is a fine introduction to one of the most frustrating arguments in the history of the philosophy of religion. How does the ontological argument support the existence of.
Critiques of ontological arguments begin with gaunilo, a contemporary of st. Specifically, the ontological argument reasons from the study of being ontology. Perhaps one might resolve to use the label ontological argument for any argument which gets classified as an ontological argument by its proponents. The ontological argument for gods existence is a particular kind of philosophical argument which christian theologians have developed for centuries as a way of showing why it is rational to believe in gods existence. Includes a brief historical overview, a taxonomy of different kinds of ontological arguments, a brief survey of objections to the different kinds of ontological arguments identified in the taxonomy, and more extended discussions of anselms ontological argument proslogion 2, godels ontological argument, and plantingas ontological argument. But this is questionable reliance there is a controversy as to whether one can actually infer from noninstantiated properties.
However, while the ontological argument may be valid, it remains to be shown that it is sound. Ontological, epistemological and methodological assumptions. Scribd is the worlds largest social reading and publishing site. There are several formulations of the ontological argument, which are based on the notion that god is the greatest thing imaginable, and therefore must exist, because existence is greater than nonexistence. Feb 25, 2017 atheist debates ontological arguments matt dillahunty. Ontological argument simple english wikipedia, the free. The idea is that existing makes a good thing better than one thats only imaginary. There are different versions, but they all argue something like. On inference from noninstantiated properties philsciarchive. About the work although anselms argument for gods existence presented in this article is based on predominately on reason, anselm presents the argument as clari. Alvin plantingas modal ontologicals argument is a irrefutable logical argument for the existence of god.
1118 1000 470 509 1222 860 452 893 209 1496 372 129 654 1203 1056 1335 1195 846 266 974 44 19 452 211 314 398 47 767 1082 270 844 259 122 12 516 993 926 413