Preview

Existence of God

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
909 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Existence of God
St. Anselm’s Proslogion A lot of people wouldn’t believe you without anything to prove your point. One good example is law. An individual or a group of people can be sued only if there is real proof or evidence, a witness, and/or a motive to do the wrong. If these things aren’t present then they cannot be sued or proven guilty. But in Anselm’s point of view, why and how would people believe in the divine Lord if we had not seen him yet even once? When we have said that we only believe what we can see… If you think about the quote made by man, “To see is to believe.” And how men believe in God, they’re two contradicting thoughts. We don’t see god, therefore why should we believe in him? What caused God to live from generations to generations when we can’t even see him, has anyone seen him besides the prophets? We know that we have friends, neighbors, teachers, parents, siblings, and other people around us because we see them physically with us. But when a child says that he has a friend which we cannot see or what we know as an “imaginary friend” do we believe them? Why don’t we? Because we can’t see them physically, but why do children believe in them? Do they only occur on kids? Does this also mean that God can only show himself to children? Why? Are grown up people not worthy to see God? Do the priests, bishops, cardinals, so on and so forth see God? If they do and they had proof, then St. Anselm wouldn’t have a thought about seeing God to believe more in God. He wants to see God like how we see our neighbors. Like how can we love our neighbors how God loves us when we don’t even see how God does it. This has really given me a thought, a new point of view in things, but my faith hasn’t changed. It’s all very intriguing and interesting to me. This is all very refreshing for the mind and soul. “What shall he do, most high Lord, what shall this exile do, far away from you as he is ? What shall your servant do, tormented by love of you and yet
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    • Explain Anselm's Ontological Argument (25 Marks)
    • 400 Words
    • 2 Pages

    • Explain Anselm's Ontological Argument (25 Marks)

    Anselm put forward his ideas about the existence of God through his book, the Proslogion. He started by simply giving the word ‘God’ a definition, and then explaining that to not believe in God was absurd. The Proslogion consisted of two main parts. In Proslogion 1, Anselm explained God as being…

    • 400 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Evaluate Anselm's Ontological Argument
    • 413 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Evaluate Anselm's Ontological Argument

    explanation that God necessarily exists. Anselm's goal is to prove to the "fool" that God has to…

    • 413 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Does God Exist? Considering the Philosophy of Ernest Nagel from a First Person
    • 1537 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Does God Exist? Considering the Philosophy of Ernest Nagel from a First Person

    One burning and enduring problem in philosophy to which we have given considerable examination is the question of the existence of God--the superlative being that philosophers have defined and dealt with for centuries. After reading the classic arguments of St. Anselm and St. Thomas Aquinas, the contentious assertions of Ernest Nagel, and the compelling eyewitness accounts of Julian of Norwich, I have been introduced to some of the most revered and referenced arguments for and against God's existence that have been put into text. All of them are well-thought and well-articulated arguments, but they have their holes. The question of God's true existence, therefore, is still not definitively answered and put to rest; the intensity of this debate probably never will mitigate. Many theologians and academics honestly admit that no matter what any philosopher may assert regarding this topic, whether or not a certain person believes in God's existence is a question of faith and nothing more.…

    • 1537 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    On Behalf Of The Fool By Gaunilo
    • 351 Words
    • 2 Pages

    On Behalf Of The Fool By Gaunilo

    The key idea of the Ontological argument is that God exits in reality as well as in the understanding. Anselm’s first premise states that God exists in the understanding. The second premise states that God might have existed in reality. If something exits only in understanding and might have existed in reality, then it might have been greater than it is as stated in the third premise. If God can only exist as an idea in the mind, then we can imagine something greater than God. But we cannot imagine something that is greater than God. Therefore, God exists.…

    • 351 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Anselm Ontological Argument Analysis
    • 118 Words
    • 1 Page

    Anselm Ontological Argument Analysis

    Anselm is not trying to say that whatever one can think of exist because, everyone can think of something that does not exist. Neither is he trying to saying believing in something without any doubt makes it exist. Finally Anselm might believe in God, he is not trying to convince us that God exist but rather he is trying to show us that once one understands or grasp the concept of who or what God, then based on logic it follows that God has to exist. Anselm ontological argument follows that if one makes an assumption and can show things that follow from that assumption lead to contradiction, then the initial assumption is rejected and conclude the opposite…

    • 118 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Logic Cannot Prove the Existence of God
    • 442 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Logic Cannot Prove the Existence of God

    For Anselm, using logic that can be deducted about God, it is clear to see that God’s existence is necessary. In the second ontological argument from Anselm, God is the greatest being possible; it is greater to exist by necessity than by contingence, it is therefore, impossible for God to not exist. In this argument, God’s existence is an analytic statement, it is impossible to prove that God exists and although Anselm believes that it does not need to be proven, there is no way of knowing that it is analytic. For example take triangles, every triangle that anyone can ever think of will have 3 sides that all add up to 180 degrees, that is simply a part of what a triangle is. Humans can however, prove this by drawing every possible triangle and testing them to see, with God’s existence that is not possible. For humans to consider his existence as an analytic statement, they would have to go faith and logic alone. In a way God’s existence could be a synthetic statement, which would mean that it would need to proven before the statement was true or not, the reason for this is because whether God exists or not does not prove his existence in reality as Anselm suggests in his argument. Kant would agree with this as he reviews Anselm’s ontological argument by saying that God’s existence is not a predicate, existence may be a part of the concept of God, but it does not proof that God exists.…

    • 442 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Evaluate Anselm's Ontological Argument Analysis
    • 503 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Evaluate Anselm's Ontological Argument Analysis

    Anselm’s ontological argument is an a priori proof of God’s existence. 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. His aim is to refute “the fool who says in his heart there is no God” (Psalms 14:1) this is showing that the ‘fool’ has important features which are; he understands the claim that God exists and he does not believe God exists. Anselm said “an atheist cannot consistently be an atheist”, they want to challenge that God does not exist but by having an understanding concept of God, then he must exist. Anselm had a clear understanding of an all knowing, all powerful and an all loving God, thus believing God exists.…

    • 503 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Explain Anselm's ontological argument.
    • 585 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Explain Anselm's ontological argument.

    Anselm’s first argument is based on three premises followed by a conclusion. The first premise is that God is the greatest conceivable being. For someone to say ‘there is no God they must first have conceived an idea of what God is and Anselm suggests that god is usually conceived as the ‘greatest conceivable being’. He then followed this with the premise that God exists either in the mind alone or in the mind and reality as well. His third premise is that that which exists in the mind and in reality is greater than that which exists in the mind alone. For example unicorns may exist in the mind as a great concept but anything that exists in reality would be greater than the concept of the unicorn. Anselm therefore states that an idea that exists in the mind and reality has an extra quality in comparison to the idea that exists in the mind alone, this quality being existence. From this he therefore concludes that god must exist in reality as well as the mind because he is the greatest conceivable being.…

    • 585 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Explain Anselms Ontological Argument
    • 310 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Explain Anselms Ontological Argument

    Hence, Anselm states that God exists in the mind, even the mind of those who deny His existence. However he points out that it is greater to exist in reality and in the mind than in the mind alone. Take for example; a pile of notes worth £1000. If it exists in the mind it is merely a pleasant thought, however, if it exists in reality it can be spent and is greater. Since God is the greatest conceivable being, He must exist in reality and in the mind, because to think otherwise involves contradiction of the theory, which you agree with.…

    • 310 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Anselm's Ontological Argument Essay
    • 436 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Anselm's Ontological Argument Essay

    The first line in Anselms ontological argument is “the fool says in his heart there is no god”, from this Anselm can deduce that the fool has an understanding of what god is .The fool has to admit that god is that than which nothing greater can be conceived, as this is the definition of god and is understood by believers and non-believers. Anselm then goes on to say, it is one thing to exist in the mind alone and another to exist in the mind and reality, for example a piece of art can exist in an artist’s mind but it is not until they paint it that it exists in the mind and reality. Anselm views God as ‘that than which none greater can be conceived’. From this definition we can say that god exists in the mind as the greatest conceivable…

    • 436 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Arguments Against Anselm's Cosmological Argument
    • 1239 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Arguments Against Anselm's Cosmological Argument

    The definition seems to be different from most definitions of God. God is usually a creator, a controller of the universe, or an arbiter of morality. When Anselm tries to prove this form of God, it is disconnected from many attributes described as God. Another point against this line is that God does not have to be constrained by our thoughts. God could be something beyond our comprehension.…

    • 1239 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Response To Anselm's Ontological Argument
    • 1034 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Response To Anselm's Ontological Argument

    Anselm, then posits a question of whether something of this nature exists, to which he builds an argument on the basis that if a person understands what it is meant by the term God then that person is motivated to the proposition that God exists. He argues that regardless of whether you believe in the existence of God or not you understand what is meant by the term God. To assert this point Anselm says even the fool (non-believer) when hearing the definition “understands what he hears, and what he understands exists in his understanding- even if he doesn’t think it exists.” He then makes the clear distinction that it is different for something to exist in understanding and to exist in reality. He furthers this point by using the analogy of the Painter who understands (in his…

    • 1034 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Flaws in Saint Anselm's Approach on the Ontological Argument
    • 1199 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Flaws in Saint Anselm's Approach on the Ontological Argument

    Thanks to Saint Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury1, the ontological argument was born in the early 1100’s. The ontological point of view, according to St. Anselm, describes God as “a being than which no greater can be conceived”.2 St. Anselm concluded that if such being failed to exist, another even greater being could be conceived that does exist. This argument would be illogical, as no being can be greater than the greatest being. Therefore God must exist. As you can see, St. Anselm’s ontological argument attempts to prove the existence of a greater being but his argument contains two flaws within it. The first can be seen in his definition - or lack thereof - in the idea of conceiving. The second flaw lies in what sorts of inferences Anselm asks of his reader. Later in this essay I will defend my view against the charge that St. Anselm’s argument is a priori argument and not a posteriori.…

    • 1199 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    St. Anselm's Ontological Argument
    • 766 Words
    • 4 Pages

    St. Anselm's Ontological Argument

    Anselm presented his argument in the second and third chapters of Proslogian. In chapter 2, Anselm says that God being than which none greater can be imagined is a conceptual truth. He acknowledged that a being that is present in both mind and reality is much greater than a being that exists only in the mind. Hence, if God only exists as an idea in the mind, we can think of something that is greater than God. We can think of the greatest possible being that does exist. This is a contradiction Anselm says. He says that we cannot think of something that is greater than God, for he is the greatest being of all. With this deductive reasoning, Anselm believes God is existent. In Chapter 3, he supports his topic in a different view. He says that a being that exists in reality is greater than a being that doesn’t exist in reality. Anselm states that by definition, “if God exists as an idea in the mind but not in reality, something greater is there.” Again he says that this is impossible. If God exists as an idea in the mind, God exists in reality. Since God exist in the mind, god exists in…

    • 766 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Ontological Argument
    • 566 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Ontological Argument

    Anselm defines God as a being “that than which no greater can be conceived.” He argues that, whatever can be understood exists in the mind and that the concept of God can be understood, so God exists in the mind. Anselm then tries to prove that God also exists in reality and not only in the mind. The first premises states “assume that God only exists in the mind and not in reality.” The second premises positions “but then a greater being than God can be thought.” Finally, we can conclude “but God was defined as a being that than which nothing greater can be conceived; so, no greater than God can be thought.” The second and last premises that “a greater being than God can be thought” and “no greater than God can be thought” are contradictions. Therefore, our original assumption that God only exists in reality must be false. Anselm implies that only a fool would deny God’s existence. He questions, “Why, then, has the fool said in his heart, there is no God (Psalms XIV. 1), since it is so evident, to a rational mind, that you do exist in the highest degree of all? Why, except that he is…

    • 566 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics