Argumenta for the Existence of God

Who came up with the ontological argument

St Anselm of Canterbury

How many forms of the ontological argument are there?

2

What is the first form of the ontological argument?

• God is known as “then that which no greater being can be conceived”

• Deductive, a priori

• We can understand God in the mind

• Existence is greater in reality then in the mind

• If God only existed in the mind a greater being could be conceived

• Therefore God must exist in reality

What is the second form argument of the ontological argument for?

A response to Gaunilo and the Perfect Island analogy

What is the Perfect Island analogy?

• Gaunilo

• We can use the definition given by Anselm on anything such as a perfect island, if we can imagine it in the mind it must exist in reality otherwise a more perfect island would be able to exist

Second form of the ontological argument

• The perfect island analogy doesn’t work as he uses the argument of a necessary v contingent being, the island is an example of a contingent being the same as everything else apart from God, the necessary being

Summary of Copleston and Russell’s argument (response to the cosmological argument)

Copelston- everything in the universe is a contingent being, there must be an uptime reason for existence and God is the logically necessary being that sustains everything

Russell- The universe exists as a brute fact, the cause reasoning applies to something in the universe not the universe itself, fallacy of composition

Cosmological argument

• Thomas Aquinas

• Inductive, a posteriori

• Five ways (1-3)

• 1. Motion (change)

• 2. Causation (causes)

• 3. Contingency

• God is the efficient cause

• Contingent v necessary beings

Teleological argument

• design argument

• William Paley

• Rock and watch analogy

• Purpose, order, design, intricacy

• Inductive, a posteriori

Kant - criticism of ontological argument

Existence is not a predicate, god in reality doesn’t add any greatness just because he exists

Evaluation of the teleological argument

• Spatial disorder (natural disasters, empty places, biological flaws)

• Inductive leap (watchmaker → God)

• Why does it have to be the God of classical theism?

• Comparing the world to a machine

• Fallacy of composition (causes in the universe doesn’t equal a single cause of the universe)

What are Humes 6 criticisms of the teleological egument

• organic origin (we should let the world evolve a it has done)

• Compares the world to a machine

• Flawed creator due to the evil in our world

• We as humans don’t have the knowledge or capability to judge how the earth was createsn

Evaluation of the cosmological argument

• Russell and Copleston

• Fallacy of composition (1 cause doesn’t equal God)

• Infinite regress

• Even if there is a first cause it doesn’t mean it was the Christian God

Evaluation of the ontological

• Kant

• Perfect island analogy