ontological arguement

Origin of the phrase 'Ontological argument'

Coined by Immanuel Kant to describe St Anselm's a priori argument for the existence of God.

Ontology

The branch of metaphysics concerned with the nature of being or existence.

A priori argument

An argument based purely on reason and conceptual analysis, independent of empirical experience.

A posteriori argument

An argument based on observation and empirical evidence gathered from the world.

Core claim of ontological arguments

Careful analysis of the concept of God reveals that God must necessarily exist.

Bertrand Russell's quote on the Ontological Argument

"It is easier to feel convinced that [the Ontological Argument] must be fallacious than it is to find out precisely where the fallacy lies."

Anselm's Proslogion 2 Premise 1 (P1)

God is defined as 'that than which nothing greater can be conceived'.

Anselm's Proslogion 2 Premise 2 (P2)

It is greater to exist in reality than in the mind alone.

Anselm's Proslogion 2 Premise 3 (P3)

God exists in the mind (understanding).

Anselm's Proslogion 2 Conclusion (C1)

Therefore, God exists in reality.

Anselm's painter illustration

Demonstrates the distinction between an idea existing in the mind alone (before painting) versus existing in both the mind and reality (after painting).

Scriptural reference in Anselm's Proslogion 2

Psalm 14:1: "The fool says in his heart, 'there is no God'."

Why Anselm considers denying God's existence self-contradictory

If the greatest conceivable being existed only in the mind, a greater being existing in reality could be conceived, contradicting the initial definition.

Proslogion Chapter 3 development

Anselm argues that God possesses necessary existence rather than contingent existence.

Necessary being

A being whose non-existence is impossible and whose existence does not depend on anything else.

Contingent being

A being whose non-existence is possible because its existence depends on external factors.

20th-century philosophers who revived Proslogion Chapter 3

Norman Malcolm and Charles Hartshorne.

Norman Malcolm's interpretation of 'greater' in Anselm's work

Refers to a being's degree of limitation; the greatest conceivable being has no limitations or dependencies.

Charles Hartshorne's term for Anselm's Proslogion 3 insight

"Anselm's discovery".

Anselm's sun analogy

Just as one cannot gaze directly at the sun but can see by daylight, one cannot fully comprehend God's essence but can understand God as the greatest conceivable being.

Gaunilo of Marmoutiers

An 11th-century Benedictine monk who wrote 'On Behalf of the Fool' to challenge Anselm's ontological argument.

Gaunilo's critique of Anselm's Premise 3

Since God is beyond human understanding, God cannot truly be 'in the understanding'.

Thomas Aquinas's objection to Anselm

God's nature is beyond human comprehension and people define God differently, so 'that than which nothing greater can be conceived' is not universally understood.

Peter van Inwagen's defense of Anselm against Gaunilo

Argues that a full understanding of God is not required; grasping the concept 'that than which nothing greater can be conceived' is sufficient.

Apophatic theology (Via Negativa)

A theological approach asserting that God is beyond human categories, making affirmative claims about God's nature impossible.

Pseudo-Dionysius's view on God and language

God is 'beyond assertion and denial', transcending human philosophical terms, truth, and falsity.

Gaunilo's 'Lost Island' critique

A reductio ad absurdum argument demonstrating that applying Anselm's logic to an imaginary perfect island absurdly requires its real existence.

The 'overload' objection

The claim that applying Anselm's ontological logic broadly would overload reality with maximally perfect instances of every category.

Anselm's counter to Gaunilo's 'Lost Island'

An island is inherently contingent and dependent on external factors, whereas the argument only applies to a necessary being like God.

Descartes' epistemological foundation for the ontological argument

Rationalist intuition rather than Aristotelian subject-predicate analysis.

Descartes' triangle analogy

Just as having angles adding up to 180 degrees is inseparable from the concept of a triangle, necessary existence is inseparable from the concept of God.

Descartes' Ontological Argument Premise 1 (P1)

I have an idea of a supremely perfect being containing all perfections.

Descartes' Ontological Argument Premise 2 (P2)

Existence is a perfection.

Descartes' Ontological Argument Conclusion (C3)

Therefore, God exists.

Hume's Fork

The distinction between Analytic truths (relations of ideas known a priori) and Synthetic truths (matters of fact known a posteriori).

Analytic proposition

A statement that is true by definition and whose denial results in a logical contradiction.

Synthetic proposition

A statement whose truth depends on empirical facts and whose denial is not self-contradictory.

David Hume's objection to 'necessary existence'

Whatever can be conceived as existing can also be conceived as not existing; therefore, 'necessary existence' has no meaning.

Hume's classification of existential claims

All propositions asserting existence are synthetic and can only be known a posteriori.

Immanuel Kant's primary critique of the ontological argument

Existence is not a real predicate because it does not add any descriptive property or quality to a concept.

Logical predicate vs. Real predicate (Kant)

A logical predicate links terms grammatically, whereas a real predicate enlarges and describes the concept of the subject.

Kant's 100 Thalers example

100 real thalers contains no more conceptual attributes or predicates than 100 possible thalers in the mind.

Descartes' defense against Kant's predicate critique

His argument relies on clear and distinct rational intuition of necessary connection rather than subject-predicate logical analysis.

Norman Malcolm's defense of 'necessary existence' as a predicate

Argues that while contingent existence is not a predicate, necessary existence defines an essential attribute of an unlimited being.

Norman Malcolm's Modal Ontological Argument Premises 1 & 2

God either exists or does not exist; if God exists, God cannot come into or go out of existence, so God's existence is either necessary or impossible.

Norman Malcolm's Modal Ontological Argument Conclusion

Since the concept of God is not self-contradictory, God's existence is not impossible; therefore, God exists necessarily.

Kant's 1st Critique: triangle example

A triangle necessarily has three sides if it exists, but denying both the triangle and its three sides simultaneously creates no contradiction.

Kant's 1st Critique applied to God

If God exists, God exists necessarily; but denying God and God's necessity together removes any potential logical contradiction.

John Hick's concept of Ontological Necessity (Aseity)

God being an eternal, uncaused, non-dependent being as a 'sheer fact', which differs from logical necessity.

Fallacy of equivocation in Malcolm's argument according to John Hick

Confusing ontological necessity (factual independence) in the premises with logical necessity in the conclusion.

Alvin Plantinga's view on reformulated ontological arguments

They do not conclusively prove God's existence to everyone, but show that accepting God's existence is fully rational.

Intrinsic maximum concept (Plantinga)

Properties like power or knowledge have a highest possible degree, unlike contingent features of an island.

In intellectu vs. In re

Latin phrases used by Anselm meaning 'in the mind/understanding' and 'in reality', respectively.