Ontological argument

Gaunilo responds to the Ontological Argument by saying that the argument “proves too much”. By this, Gaunilo means that the Ontological Argument could be applied to anything, not just God; even things that we know do not exist. The example that Gaunilo uses is conceiving the most perfect island than which no greater island is possible. The most perfect island must exist in reality and in the mind, because if it did not, then it would be possible to conceive of an island greater than the most…

In St. Anselm’s Ontological Argument, he believe that God exist in real world. He points out that nothing can be thought greater than God, and if God dose not exist, something exist must be greater than him which prove the existent of God. However, his argument is not sound. Things exist in our mind may not exist in real world. People understanding a thing cannot proves that people believe that thing. First, Anselm says that “if that than which a greater cannot be thought is in the…

The Ontological Exercise: The Cartesian and Kantian Positions In the book Philosophy of Religion, John Hicks summarizes the main point of Rene Descartes’s version of the ontological argument as: “The essence or defining nature of each kind of thing includes certain predicates, and Descartes’s ontological argument claims that existence must be among the defining predicates of God… [s]o existence is a necessary characteristic of a supremely perfect being” (Hick 18). The main premise of…

How successful is the Ontological Argument in Proving the Existence of God? For centuries, the existence of God has been questioned and argued by many different philosophers. One of the “big three” arguments is the Ontological Argument, an argument that could be said to be valid, as it has a good structure, but the soundness is questionable. The argument was founded by St Anselm (1033-1109) on the basis of two things: firstly, that God is “that than which nothing greater can be conceived” ,…

person known to have formed the Ontological argument as we know it; which can be found in the second chapter of his work, The Proslogion. The Ontological argument is not an argument designed to convert the atheist, but to reassure those who have faith or some belief in God, it was meant for the believer seeking understanding, in other words some logic behind their belief. Since only the “fool” knows but does not believe (Psalms 14:1, 53:1). The word, ‘Ontological’ comes from the prefix…

Anselm (1033-1109), who was the Catholic archbishop of Canterbury and a Doctor of the Church, first created the Ontological Argument. This is among one of the strangest arguments as well as also being one of the most debated. The ontological argument is notable due to its claim of the existence of God by basing its evidence solely on human reason and without any…

set out Descartes’ main arguments of God. Firstly, I will briefly discuss a fundamental philosophical topic – how could I have been created if there were no God? Secondly, I will assess one of Descartes’ main arguments of the roots of knowledge and God’s role with this, and finally I will speak about Descartes’ ontological argument. I believe that his ontological argument is his weakest in his meditations, and so I will provide arguments against his, and then a counter argument which Descartes’…

Describe and critically analyse the ontological argument for the existence of God. Ontological arguments are arguments that some philosophers claim, definitively prove and conclude on the existence of an omniscient ‘God’. These arguments are structured in a specific analytical, deductive, a priori style. The analytical, a priori aspect of the argument means that the conclusion is based on the understanding of a definition. Meaning that the truth of the conclusion can be determined before…

We have talked about many different types of arguments for the existence of god. However, only one seems interesting to me and that was the ontological argument. There are so many who studied this argument that I find it so interesting to see how they all found it and explained it. The ontological argument is the argument based on reason. It is based on the very being of God. With this argument there is no need for finding physical evidence for the existence of God. It attempts to prove the…

Anselm’s Ontological argument argues that there is a God. Anselm argue is meaning there is nothing better than God. If the mind can think of such thing, therefore God is real. He argues that if God can be thought of he has to exist. That only someone such as a fool argues and states that there is not a God. If the fool can argue saying that there is no God he must believe in God for he thought of the idea that there is a God. Anselm then uses the example or analogy of the painter, for a fool to…