Outline the ontological argument for the existence of god and consider the view that, while it may strengthen a believers faith, it has no value for the nonbeliever. The premises of anselms ontological argument were demonstrated to be sound when examined in the context of anselms definition of the greatest conceivable being. The main weakness of anselms argument is posed by gaunilo of marmoutier, a contemporary of anselm, gaunilo posed, using reductio ad absurdum, that if the logic of the argument were applied to anything other than god, its conclusion would be unreasonable. The word ontology is a greek word relating to the concept of being. Anselms ontological argument for the existence of god anselms argument is an a priori argument. An ontological argument is an argument that attempts to prove the existence of god by thinking alone. For anselm, that system comes from his understanding of the christian.
Th is argument takes the form of a reductio ad absurdum. The ontological argument for the existence of god was famously set out by bishop anselm in his proslogion chapters 24. Anselmss ontological argument is stated, and a few standard objections to his argument are listed. We then o er a detailed preparatory study of the basic concepts involved in anselms argument. Because uni hasnt officially started yet this is how i like to spend my days letting. The ontological argument st anselm and descartes both famously presented an ontological argument for the existence of god. Malcolm agrees with a tradition beginning with gaunilo in rejecting that argument. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Descartes and anselm show how the supposition that god does not exist leads to a contradiction, and they then conclude that god must therefore exist. Original german text available online, 628 kb pdf file, maintained by. Ontological arguments are arguments, for the conclusion that god exists, from. Framed as a sub program of gmk, its focus is on procesual, hybrid, ephemeral and experimental art practices.
It covers everything in the specification and uses the nelson thornes book as a guide. Feb 12, 2015 basically an ontological argument is a philosophical argument for the existence of god that uses ontology. Anselm 10331109 was archbishop of canterbury and wrote many influential works, including his proslogium, monologium and cur deus homo. Their versions of the argument are slightly different, but.
One of the famous arguments for the existence of god is the ontological argument. Moreover, anselms argument was shown to be a valid argument, with a conclusion that follows from the premises. Anselm of canterbury, who defined god as the greatest conceivable being. Full text of an encyclopedia of religion internet archive. The ontological argument necessarily presupposes a system of values. However, this discussion seemed to have been limited to western philosophy until i have recently come across the opinions of two great ottoman muslim scholars. Anselm had a clear understanding of an all knowing, all powerful and an all loving god, thus believing god exists.
St anselm the ontological argument pdf anselm does not distinguish clearly between. The ontological argument from st anselm, proslogium, trans. He has two versions of it, and they are the most widely discussed among the many versions of this argument. We rst present a number of requirements that any successful reconstruction should meet. Anselms text anselms ontological argument is presented in his proslogion, starting with chapter ii, though where the argument ends is more controversial. The ontological argument for the existence of god cross. Sheikh gharawi isfahani has presented one version for the. Alvin plantinga, have even judged kants dictum to be totally irrelevant to. As clearly as possible, restate anselms ontological argument. Anselm claims that we can prove the existence of god, without any evidence from experience, simply by understanding the conceptof god. And, as is well known, of all the versions of the ontological argument, it is anselm s argument for gods existence that stands out the most.
The form of the argument is that of a reductio ad absurdum argument. Jan 06, 2006 anselms idea is that the problem with the argument which leads to c is that 2 is false. A more recent ontological argument came from kurt godel, who proposed a formal argument for gods existence. Anselm believes understanding the nature of religious belief is a necessary condition for believing in the nature and existence of god. 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. For anselm, it is a perfection for god to be passionless p. Ontological arguments stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. This argument is a purethought argument and does not require the thinker to venture into the realm of sensory experience. If one wants to deny that god exists, one has to do one of two things. A modern advocate of the ontological argument is alvin plantinga b.
Ontological argument the ontological argument is widely thought to have been first clearly articulated by st. Some of the subsequent criticisms of the ontological argument, by. However, in our opinion, much of this literature ignores or misrepresents the elegant simplicity of the original argument. Jun 14, 2015 this feature is not available right now.
Revision outline for the ontological argument ao1 a examine the ontological argument for the existence of god. Ao1 a examine the ontological argument for the existence. This is an a prioriargument for the existence of god. Anselms versions of the ontological argument descartes is not the first philosopher to state this argument. Having receded from the forefront of intellectual thought after being refuted by st. Original focal sculpture, mary of nazareth dedicated 1991. Marys parish, annapolis, maryland, established in 1989, adjacent to historic carroll house. But it is the other argument with which malcolm is particularly concerned. The ontological argument in anselms proslogion ii continues to generate a. Anselm 10331109 of canterbury was born in aosta, italy. Anselm of canterbury was a neoplatonic realist and was. The hub cvoriste is a publication imagined as a virtual exhibition space acompanied by a year long program enclosing exhibitions, performances, artist talks, screenings etc. The one fatal flaw in anselms argument peter millican. An analysis of the ontological argument of st anselm.
Anselm developed a controversial a priori argument for the existence of god. Apr 11, 2012 the ontological argument is widely thought to have been first clearly articulated by st. Alvin plantinga challenged this argument and proposed an alternative, based on modal logic. Ian logan reading the proslogion1 saint anselm college. Anselmss ontological argument is stated, and a few standard st. The ontological argument to be clear, by the ontological argument, i refer to the traditional accounts as produced by anselm and descartes. Anselm reasoned that, if such a being fails to exist, then a greater. He is remembered chiefly as the originator of the first ontological argument for the existence of god. Ontological argument revisited by two ottoman muslim scholars. In the 11th century, saint anselm, the archbishop of canterbury, proposed the first and bestknown ontological argument for the existence of god. Matthews and lynne rudder baker the ontological argument in anselm s proslogion ii continues to generate a remarkable store of sophisticated commentary and criticism. Many such arguments have been advanced since anselms, but anselms original argument has remained a popular object of study. Designed for aqa a2 this powerpoint takes you through the ontological argument.
Speaks january 6, 2006 1 anselms presentation of the argument anselms argument begins with a statement of what god is. Now we believe that you are are something than which nothing greater can be thought. Matthews and lynne rudder baker the ontological argument in anselms proslogion ii continues to generate a remarkable store of sophisticated commentary and criticism. 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. 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.
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 and in reality. Criticisms of anselms ontological argument the postbarthian. Strengths and weaknesses of the ontological argument. Deals with the argument as laid down by anselm and developed by descartes. Anselms ontological argument for the existence of god. Pdf in this article i offer a new interpretation of saint anselms ontological argument. The relevance of kants objection to anselms ontological argument. Anselms argument is an a priori argument that is, it is an argument that is independent of.
Thomas aquinas in the th century, it was revived in the 17th century by rene des. The ontological argument for the existence of god i. The honor of being the first to present this argument fully and clearly belongs to saint anselm of canterbury 10331109. Many arguments fall under the category of the ontological, and they tend to involve arguments about the state of being or existing.
The ontological argument itself therefore an a priori argumen. 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. He has forcefully argued that kants objection does not conflict with anything in anselm s argument. In this paper, we discuss formal reconstructions of anselms ontological argument. Anselm of canterbury 10331109 was a neoplatonic realist and was often called the second augustine. Anselm, archbishop of canterbury first set forth the ontological argument in the eleventh century. Anselms famous ontological argument has been disputed by many western philosophers to our day. 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. As the philosophy of aristotle, and his muslim commentators, was introduced into the universities, it was seen as a threat to traditional christian belief. While some people are convinced that god exists once they have been exposed to anselm s ontological argument, many are not. Deity, then i call that argument an ontological argument. What everybody knows is wrong with the ontological.
Anselms ontological argument for the existence of god, proceedings of the aristotelian society. 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. Ontological argument religious studies alevel revision world. May 21, 2012 for anselm, it is a perfection for god create all things from nothing proslogium, pp. Aquinas for example, had been put forward by gaunilo. 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. 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. As clearly as possible, restate anselm s ontological argument. My aim is to demonstrate that the significance of this. 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. Logan concludes his study with some brief reflections on the philosophical significance of anselm s argument.
Reprinted by permission of open court publishing company, a division of carus publishing company, peru, il. Norman malcolm revived the ontological argument in 1960 when he located a second, stronger ontological argument in anselms work. It is also an argument that seems to presuppose a faithstance this also being karl barths. The unconvinced sense that one cannot argue for gods existence in this way and thus that the argument s logic is flawed. 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. In the present sense of this term, there are infinitely many ontologi cal arguments, all of them valid. What is anselms ontological argument for the existence of god. Anselms a prioriargument for the existence of god today we will look at anselms ontological argument for the existence of god. Anselm of canterburys ontological argument the postbarthian. It moves through logical stages to reach a conclusion, which is selfevidently true or logically necessary.
Explain the ontological argument from anselms perspective. It was critized and somewhat ambivalently rejected by thomas aquinas. For anselm does not contingently add existence as a property to god and define him into existence. 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. Anselm means when he writes there is only one way god can be conceived not to. The word ontological comes from ontology, the study of ology of what exists or being ont. Anselms argument can be used to prove the existence of all sorts of crazy impossible things could use to prove existence of things that dont exist impossible for a greatest possible ice cream sandwich to exist could be used to prove the existence of anything at all conclusion. Anselm was the first thinker in the west to present the ontological argument as far as history tells us. Explain anselms ontological argument essay graduateway. An analysis of the ontological argument of st anselm by ian corfield introduction st anselm 1033ce1109ce was a philosopher and theologian and held the office of archbishop of canterbury from 1093ce until his death. I shall devote special atten tion to one particular ontological argument, the most modest, since many of its features are shared by all other ontological arguments.
68 701 453 854 419 862 1580 395 784 1118 1474 67 895 1140 1479 883 471 1199 724 452 647 961 853 1389 268 819 1429 546 769 1413 808 36 763 1186 252 1485 286