A modern advocate of the ontological argument is alvin plantinga b. If a painter preconceives an idea for a work of art, the finished product will always be superior to the idea of it alone. And finally there is one more strong criticism where anselms argument fails. Anselm had a clear understanding of an all knowing, all powerful and an all loving god, thus believing god exists. So i would like to propose this idea as a thought experiment for the conciliar post community to engage in rather than as a conclusive argument. Gaunilo raised an objection to the ontological argument on the grounds that anselms argument can be altered to prove the existence of any concept simply by using the definition that the concept is greater than all other concepts. The first ontological argument in the western christian tradition was proposed by anselm of canterbury in his 1078 work proslogion. Mar 23, 2012 evaluate anselms ontological argument for the existence of god. The ontological argument from st anselm, proslogium, trans. An ontological argument is a philosophical argument for the existence of god that uses ontology. What is anselms ontological argument for the existence of. Gods existence, which holds that the idea of god in ones mind is evidence of a. St anselms ontological argument is a deductive, priori, analytic argument which seeks to establish the existence of god by understanding the attributes of god in the sense of classic theism.
The word ontological comes from ontology, the study of ology of what exists or being ont. Anselm claims that we can prove the existence of god, without any evidence from experience, simply by understanding the conceptof god. Reprinted by permission of open court publishing company, a division of carus publishing company, peru, il. Anselms ontological argument is an a priori proof of gods existence. Having receded from the forefront of intellectual thought after being refuted by st. It covers everything in the specification and uses the nelson thornes book as a guide. Why the ontological proof of gods existence is bullshit. Anselm proposes that if god can be thought of and perceived, then he must. Is the ontological proof of gods existence, by anselm, godel. Anselms text anselms ontological argument is presented in his proslogion, starting with chapter ii, though where the argument ends is more controversial. Ontological argument for the gods existence internet. Is the ontological proof of gods existence, by anselm.
The one fatal flaw in anselms argument peter millican. Anselm s famous, or some might say infamous ontological argument, is found in chapters 2 and 3 of the proslogion. Malcolms version malcolm pointed out the second version of the ontological argument, god is that, than which nothing greater can be conceived. Their versions of the argument are slightly different, but. Not long after anselm published his proslogion, his devotional apologetic was criticized by gaunilo, yet anselms argument was taken up by many of the wests most prominent thinkers, such as descartes and leibniz, both. The ontological argument for the existence of god i. The ontological argument describes god as a being than which nothing greater can be conceived, anselm argued that the greatest possible being must exist otherwise he would not be the greatest possible being, although he must be the greatest possible being in every way. I the other a priori argument due originally to anselm is the ontological argument i the ontological argument comes in various forms, but the common element is that it asserts that gods existence can be proven simply from the concept of god. The ontological argument st anselm and descartes both famously presented an ontological argument for the existence of god. The ontological argument for the existence of god is the only a priori argument for gods existence.
Deals with the argument as laid down by anselm and developed by descartes. Anselm s ontological argument for the existence of god. If you have a particular issue with anselms ontological argument, you will automatically disagree with what im proposing here and i should note that im not entirely sold on this argument either. Criticisms of anselms ontological argument the postbarthian. Pdf this paper presents the special issue on formal approaches to. Speaks january 6, 2006 1 anselm s presentation of the argument anselm s argument begins with a statement of what god is. The ontological argument of anselm of canterbury has long since captivated the minds of many philosophers and apologists. Anselm 10331109 of canterbury was born in aosta, italy. Anselm in the eleventh century, and then criticized by a monk named gaunilo anselms contemporary and later by st. Anselm defined god as a being than which no greater can be conceived, and which exists, and argued that this being must exist in the mind. Anselm to contemporary philosophers alvin plantinga, richard taylor on. The ontological argument from anselm and descartes, and challenges to it from gaunilo and kant for medieval theologians, the existence of god was a given there was no need to debate it. 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. He is most famous for his ontological argument, which is one of the most famous proofs for the existence of god in proslogium, as well as for his argument for satisfaction atonement in cur deus homo trans.
Thomas aquinas in the th century, it was revived in the 17th century by rene des. One might put the argument in other words, and argue that god. The ontological argument is a priori, it comes before evidence and relies on reason, e. Anselm believes understanding the nature of religious belief is a necessary condition for believing in the nature and existence of god.
Anselme du bec after his monastery, was an italian benedictine monk, abbot, philosopher and theologian of the catholic church, who held the office of archbishop of canterbury from 1093 to 1109. An ontological argument is an a priori demonstration of the existence of god. My aim is to demonstrate that the significance of this. There are excerpts the works of philosophers who tackled the ontological proof for gods existence, in their own words, with little editorial guidance. We examine the famous ontological argument in proslogium ii. Anselm 10331109, archbishop of canterbury, presents one of the most famous arguments for gods existence. Matthews and lynne rudder baker the ontological argument in anselms proslogion ii continues to generate a remarkable store of sophisticated commentary and criticism. The ontological argument is the attempt to prove, simply from an examination of the concept of god, that the being to which that concept would apply must in fact exist. Born in the italian town of aosta, located in the province of turin, anselm left home while still in his teens and for three years wandered alone through. Anselms actual argument, unlike most versions, is an exercise in intentional logic, a fact that has eluded commentators from the time of gaunilon.
This entry is a good place to start for clarification of the above notes to the argument. In other words, for the adherents of the ontological argument, the existence of a greatest possible being is necessary, and he is god. Anselms ontological argument for the existence of god. Eder, ramharter formal reconstructions of anselms ontological argumentdecember 15, 2015 2 31. Basically, if gods goal is to save all people, or at least as many people as. The argument according to anselm and its metaphysical interpretation according to kant jeanluc marion. Formal reconstructions of anselms ontological argument. Speaks january 6, 2006 1 anselms presentation of the argument anselms argument begins with a statement of what god is.
Anselms a prioriargument for the existence of god today we will look at anselms ontological argument for the existence of god. Anselms text anselms ontological argument is presented in his proslogion, starting with chapter ii, though where. A good discussion with extensive links to the history, classification, and classic objections to. Anselms argument is an a priori argument that is, it is an argument that is independent of. 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. One of the most fascinating arguments for the existence of an allperfect god is the ontological argument. If we can construct a similar argument to a given argument with the same form as the original with true premisses and a false conclusion, then the given argument is also shown to be invalid. Ontological arguments are arguments, for the conclusion that god exists, from. Project muse is the ontological argument ontological. Anselm argued that we can imagine a being which is greater than all else.
The third paper, by john rushby 18, deals with anselms argument. Jul 15, 2015 a powerpoint on anselm s ontological argument. Anselm means when he writes there is only one way god can be conceived not to. But, anselm notes, this fool must surely at least be able to understand. Anselm 10331109 who was an archbishop of canterbury and abbot of bec. Moreover, anselms argument was shown to be a valid argument, with a conclusion that follows from the premises. On the logic of the ontological argument stanford university. Immanuel kant 17241804 claimed that there are only three possi ble ways of proving the existence of god by means.
Anselm of canterbury, who defined god as the greatest conceivable being. The honor of being the first to present this argument fully and clearly belongs to saint anselm of canterbury 10331109. Anselm of canterbury 10331109 was the first major philosopher of the high middle ages, roughly the eleventh through the thirteenth centuries in european history. While there are several different versions of the argument, all purport to show that it is selfcontradictory to deny that there exists a greatest possible being. The argument for the existence of god will always give rise to infinitive points of view. Anselm has argued that there exists a difference between the concept of unicorn as it exists intramentally and extramentally. What analogy did anselm used to support the third stage of the first ontological argument. Anselm, offered an early and influential reply to the ontological argument. Saint anselm wishes to convince a fool who can understand the idea of god as a being greater than which cannot be conceived that disbelief in god is logically inconsistent with their understanding.
About the work although anselm s argument for gods existence presented in this article is based on predominately on reason, anselm presents the argument as clari. Anselm ontological argument san jose state university. It was critized and somewhat ambivalently rejected by thomas aquinas. But many philosophers are skeptical about this underlying assumption. Wikipedias reprint from the scholarly 1911 encyclopedia britannica on anselms life and works anselm, the ontological argument a short selection of anselms argument from proslogium 2 in the online reading for philosophical inquiry on this site. A criticism of anselms ontological argument leaving. Many arguments fall under the category of the ontological, and they tend to involve arguments about the state of being or existing. Explain anselms ontological argument essay example graduateway.
Explain anselms ontological argument essay example. Anselms name will forever be associated with the ontological argument for. The form of the argument is that of a reductio ad absurdum argument. Now we believe that you are are something than which nothing greater can be thought. In this paper, we discuss formal reconstructions of anselms ontological argument. Anselms ontological argument for the existence of god anselms argument is an a priori argument. Descartes ontological argument i in the fifth meditation, descartes is considering various mathematical and conceptual truths i for instance, we know simply by analyzing the concept \triangle that the interior angles of a triangle equal two right angles i likewise, we know by the concept \mountain that wherever there is a mountain there is a valley. This is an a priori argument for the existence of god. Although this argument has been presented as unassailable and irrefutable, there have been, however, some very important attempted refutations from very reputable and important scholars. We saw in our discussion of anselm that anselm was trying to provide a reductio ad absurdum of the atheists position, by showing that the supposition that god does not exist in reality leads to an absurdity.
However, i do wonder if something like anselms ontological argument can be tweaked to support the universalist position. Anselms definition of god as the being than which no greater can be conceived is impossible to understandthere is no. He has two versions of it, and they are the most widely discussed among the many versions of this argument. Anselm of canterbury is most famous for his ontological argument for the existence of god, which is that god is the greatest necessary being that which may be thought of paraphrase. What is anselms ontological argument for the existence of god. Anselm, archbishop of canterbury first set forth the ontological argument in the eleventh century. Explain the ontological argument from anselms perspective.
Anselmo daosta after his birthplace and anselm of bec french. Anselms famous, or some might say infamous ontological argument, is found in chapters 2 and 3 of the proslogion. I shall take it for granted that the connection between what i call ontological arguments and traditional presenta tions of the ontological argument there is, of course, no one argument that can be called the ontological argument is plain. Anselm reasoned that, if such a being fails to exist, then a greater. For anselm does not contingently add existence as a property to god and define him into existence. Anselms argument was not presented in order to prove gods existence. The ontological argument for gods existence has taken several different forms throughout history, but the most popular version is that of the 11th century philosopher and theologian saint anselm of canterbury. Saint anselm of canterbury offered several arguments for the existence of god. For a long time, the socalled ontological argument was not called ontological at all. Anselm begins with a stipulative definition of god as a being than which no greater being can be conceived. I believe, as many scholars do, that descartes and anselms arguments share several significant features and so may be thought of as alike in kind. Let us return to our discussion of unicorns and god. Anselm starts with an idea that depends on experience for their justification and then proceeds by purely logical means to the conclusion that god exists.
A resources and revision website for a level religious studies, ocr, aqa and edexcel. That ontological argument is the subject of this article, and henceforth i shall call it the ontological. Anselms versions of the ontological argument descartes is not the first philosopher to state this argument. Ontological argument for gods existence one of the most fascinating arguments for the existence of an allperfect god is the ontological argument. Anselm developed a controversial a priori argument for the existence of god. Anselms argument together with gaunilos, aquinas and kants objections are conveniently summarized by kenneth einar himma in the internet encyclopedia of philosophy. What is common among these versions of ontological argument, including anselm s argument for gods existence, is the claim that it is selfcontradictory to deny the existence of a greatest possible being. Humanities wp brp 68hum2014 this working paper is an output of a research project implemented at the national research university higher school of economics hse. Apr 11, 2012 the ontological argument is widely thought to have been first clearly articulated by st. Feb 12, 2015 it is widely accepted that the first ontological argument was proposed by anselm of canterbury in his 1078 work proslogion. I am going to argue i that the way in which this criticism is usually presented is faulty, 2 that these faults result.
The ontological argument for the existence of god cross. Ok, ive stomped on science and empirical theories of meaning and found the former quite irrational and the latter meaningless, which was all great fun. Perhaps one of the most famous ontological arguments presented was by st. As clearly as possible, restate anselms ontological argument. I am going to argue i that the way in which this criticism is usually presented is faulty, 2 that these faults result from overlooking certain basic features of the concept of existence. As the philosophy of aristotle, and his muslim commentators, was introduced into the universities, it was seen as a threat to traditional christian belief. Anselm 10331109 was archbishop of canterbury and wrote many influential works, including his proslogium, monologium and cur deus homo. Saint anseim and even descartes both introduce it as meum argumentummy argument. Anselm gave in, accepted the inference, and produced one of the most famous, intriguing, challenging, and fascinating arguments in the history of philosophy, an argument that was later named the ontological argument from the greek word ontos. Descartes ontological argument stanford encyclopedia of. The ontological argument to be clear, by the ontological argument, i refer to the traditional accounts as produced by anselm and descartes. We then o er a detailed preparatory study of the basic concepts involved in anselms argument. Ontological arguments stanford encyclopedia of philosophy.
Content 1 arguments for the existence of god 2 ontological arguments 3 anselms ontological argument and its formal reconstructions 4 criteria for formal reconstructions 5 central concepts in anselms argument 6 a modalfree reconstruction 7 two modal reconstructions 8 what can we learn. The one fatal flaw in anselms argument 439 gods existence, and another under which it is validand indeed soundbut fails to prove the existence of god. Although anselms argument for gods existence presented in this article is based on predominately on reason, anselm presents the argument as clarification. Other ontological arguments must be judged on their own merits. Anselm, who claims that once we understand the nature of god as a being than which nothing greater can be conceived, we realize that his essence implies his existence. Anselms response focuses on his position that god alone cannot be conceived not to exist. More specifically, ontological arguments tend to start with an a priori theory about the organization of the universe. This argument is the primary locus for such philosophical problems as whether existence is a property and whether or not the notion of necessary existence is intelligible. Ontological argument religious studies alevel revision world. As is clearly evident, the ontological argument rests on the assumption that the concept of god, as it is described in the argument, is selfconsistent. Anselm then imagines a character, the fool, who denies that god exists. Evaluate anselms ontological argument for the existence of god.
This leads stewart, in his influential paper, to conclude that the ontological argument, as such, is never considered by hume. Anselm, descartes, critics, and a contemporary defense luke arredondo ht 503 medieval theology 27 april 20 arredondo 1. Types of existence paul tillich argued that god does not exist in the same contingent way that all matter in the universe does. Anselm s argument together with gaunilos, aquinas and kants objections are conveniently summarized by kenneth einar himma in the internet encyclopedia of philosophy. Kants background to the ontological argument immanuel kant 17241804 does not seem to show familiarity with anselms version of the ontological argument, and it appears that he is responding to its less impressive forms found in the writings of rene descartes 15961650 and christian wolff 16791754. One must read gingerly through the ontological argument from st. Pdf in this article i offer a new interpretation of saint anselms ontological argument.
Anselm of canterburys ontological argument the postbarthian. We rst present a number of requirements that any successful reconstruction should meet. This is an a prioriargument for the existence of god. However, in our opinion, much of this literature ignores or misrepresents the elegant simplicity of the original argument. Theologian and philosopher anselm of canterbury 10331109 proposed an ontological argument in the second and third chapters of his proslogion. Therefore the argument works only in the case of god. St anselm the ontological argument pdf anselm does not distinguish clearly between. He has forcefully argued that kants objection does not conflict with anything in anselms argument. If it is greater to exist than not to exist, then there must be a greatest member of any class of beings whatsoever. Proslogion, meaning discourse, was written by anselm. Immanuel kant 1724 1804, offered what many believe to be a damning critique of anselms ontological argument. Introduction a nselms ontological argument is an ad hominem argument against the foole, part of which is a reductio ad absurdum, designed to prove the existence of god. The ontological argument revisited the ontological argument has often been criticized on the grounds that it mistakenly supposes exists to be a pred icate. Even a fool, when he hears of a being than which nothing greater can be conceived understands what he hears, and what he understands is in his understanding.