Preview

Ontological Argument Analysis

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
521 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Ontological Argument Analysis
there are three types of arguments that speak about the existence of God. One of the most fascinating arguments for the existence of a completely perfect God is Anselm's ontological argument for the existence of God. It is indeed adequate for establishing the necessary existence of the Greatest Conceivable Being. Although there are several different versions of the argument, all pretend to show that it is contradictory to deny that there is a greater possible being. Therefore, in this general line of argument, it is a necessary truth that such a being exists.

Anselm begins his argument by introducing “the fool”, a reference to Psalms 53:1. This fool “has said that in his heart, [that] there is no God”, or denying the existence of God. Anselm
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

    Examine the ways in which the design argument provides evidence for the existence of God
    • 984 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Examine the ways in which the design argument provides evidence for the existence of God

    One argument for the existence of God is the basic design argument. It states that: the world has purpose and order, the complexity of the universe shows evidence of design, such design needs a designer, the only designer of something as great as the universe is God. This provides evidence for the existence of God as natural objects, such as the human eye, are so complex that the chance of them occurring randomly are so minute that it is much more likely that the eye had a designer. This is because each individual part of the eye must be the exact right size and in a specific condition to be able to function at all. A designer who is capable of designing something so detailed must be omnipotent – no question. The only possible being who is able to create something so divine must be God. Therefore the Basic argument shows evidence for the existence of God.…

    • 984 Words
    • 3 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
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Teleological Argument Analysis
    • 86 Words
    • 1 Page

    The Teleological Argument Analysis

    There is one prevailing question we ask ourselves consistently, “Does God exist?” Every human answer’s that question in their own unique way, which is contingent upon their beliefs, experiences, and influences. The existence of God was significantly debated among philosophers during the 18th and 19th centuries and each esteemed philosopher had a distinct argument explaining their rationale, while criticizing another’s. In this paper, I will analyze William Paley’s argument, “The Teleological Argument,” and how it is disparaged by David Hume and his argument for apparent…

    • 86 Words
    • 1 Page
    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
  • 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
  • Good Essays

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

    Anselm's Ontological Argument Essay

    Anselm’s second argument states that it is logically necessary for God to exist. Anselm states that god is the greatest conceivable being, so it would be less great to imagine him not existing than to imagine him existing.…

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

    The Teleological Argumentative Analysis
    • 1217 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Teleological Argumentative Analysis

    Throughout the course of time, many philosophers, dogmatic religions and even individual human beings themselves have tried to prove the existence of God. The recurrent question that constantly arises is whether or not you can prove the existence of God solely by rational thinking alone. To that, the answer is no. It is not possible to prove the existence of God solely by rational thinking as you also need to incorporate aspects of faith, but rational thinking helps solidify your beliefs pertaining to God and leaves the answers we cannot conceive rationally up to faith. You cannot understand something outside of your existence rationally because you cannot experience it or see it; you can only theorize, believe and trust in it. You will never be able to reason what you have no knowledge of. In this essay, I will argue that in…

    • 1217 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    What Is The Design Argument For God's Existence
    • 172 Words
    • 1 Page

    What Is The Design Argument For God's Existence

    One of the most fascinating arguments for the existence of an all-perfect God is the ontological argument. While there are several different versions of the argument, all purport to show that it is self-contradictory to deny that there exists a greatest possible being. Thus, on this general line of argument, it is a necessary truth that such a being exists; and this being is the God of traditional Western theism. This article explains and evaluates classic and contemporary versions of the ontological argument.…

    • 172 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Ontological Argument Analysis
    • 92 Words
    • 1 Page

    Ontological Argument Analysis

    The existence of God is one of the greatly talked about philosophical topics throughout history. There have been many arguments proposed in order to answer the question. One argument is the ontological argument. The first person to propose the ontological argument is St. Anselm in the eleventh century. St. Anselm tries to prove the existence God from the idea of a being that which no greater being can be imagined. St. Anselm contemplated that, if such a being did not exist, then a more superior being can be thought of to…

    • 92 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory 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

    Cosmological Argument: Proving The Existence Of God
    • 1954 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Cosmological Argument: Proving The Existence Of God

    There are 3 main arguments that each seek to prove the existence of God; the Ontological, Cosmological, and Teleological Arguments. Each is different in its approach, but all arrive at the same conclusion. Ontological Argument argues God’s existence from the assumption of the existence a “Greatest Thing that can ever be conceived.” From there, it argues that in order for something to be “The Greatest Thing ever” it must exist physically (that is outside of the mind). The Cosmological Argument argues that since everything in the universe is contingent (or is dependent on other things for its existence), there must be a first cause that set the universe in motion.…

    • 1954 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    The Ontological Argument Analysis
    • 1416 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The Ontological Argument Analysis

    Is there a God? This is a question that crosses the minds of everyone in the world, at least once. While this question is highly controversial, the world must come to the realization that there is not one definite answer. This may seem confusing to most people, and the concept will probably never be fully grasped. But there are five particular philosophers who have formed strong opinions and arguments to address the question at hand and seem to have it all figured out. Philosophy and religion do indeed have an unsettled relationship, but this relationship only challenges minds, inspires people to think, and allows others to obtain a deeper and more detailed perspective.…

    • 1416 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better 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