The Ontological Argument For The Existence Of A Vampire

Philosophy is the basis for the human thought. It was the first ever real science, and it served as a springboard for many of the fields studied today, such as psychology and traditional science. One of the most primitive and early arguments presented in psychology was the ontological argument: the argument for the existence of a God (Pojman). People wanted to be able to explain the world around them, and more importantly people wanted to have direction in their life. The desire for an all powerful being stems from the real desire for a “judgement day” and a judge itself. Naturally, humans want someone to delineate what is right and what is wrong; and someone to enforce the consequences. Often times, people may be judged for having blind faith
however that is a primary premise of the ontological argument. It is based on no outside evidence, but rather states that simply by premise alone an all powerful being must exist. Van Helsing, as a character, seems to be the embodiment of morality and what is considered righteous and good in the world. He himself believes that it is his holy quest and responsibility to defeat Dracula (the responsibility coming directly from God and religion). Van Helsing states, “Thus are we ministers of God’s own wish: that the world, and men for whom His Son die, will not be given over to monsters, whose very existence would defame Him. He has allowed us to redeem one soul already, and we go out as the old knights of the Cross to redeem more. Like them we shall travel toward sunrise; and like them, if we fall, we fall in good cause” (Stoker, ch.24). The above quote draws a clear stark contrast between “men” and “monsters”, with the monsters taking on the role of something similar to the antichrist. Helsing also refers to his band of warriors as the “knights of the cross” which seems as a perfectly noble and just cause however the “knights of hell” also hold their place among christianity.
However, what I find interesting is that a vampire is not simply a monster. Even the words “vampire” and “man” sound kind of similar. What makes a vampire a vampire, and the reason Stoker chose vampires as the subject of interest is because a vampire is a man that has been manipulated, distorted, and mutated, but yet is still able to maraud in the bodily flesh and figure of the “righteous man”. The idea of the righteous god abiding man takes an important role in the novel. When Jonathan Harker was still initially discovering who Dracula was he questioned: “What manner of man is this, or what manner of creature is it in the semblance of a man?” (Stoker, ch. 23). Even Harker is shocked by the fact that the monster is in fact also a man. What adds fear and reality to the notion of a vampire is the fact that a vampire could be walking among you and you would not even know it. They are the worst and most immoral beings yet they can seamlessly mesh into the “pure” and “normal” human
population. Going along with the propulsion and motivation by God, a quote in chapter 4 states, “At least God's mercy is better than that of these monsters, and the precipice is steep and high. At its foot a man may sleep—as a man.” This reveals another facet to the idea of God and an all powerful being because in this case, God is being viewed as a purifier of sin. In this case, death is being viewed as better than vampirism. The argument is that when a person dies they remain pure and whole which is better than living in the undead as a sinful vampire. But, in order for the argument to work, one would have to assume that all men are inherently good. But that is clearly not the case. A living man who is sinful will go to hell and suffer the same fate as any sinful vampire. Stoker is trying to make the statement that sin walks amongst us and delineating morality strictly, while using christianity and religion as a pretense, is corrupt. In almost every reference to God that Stoker makes, there is a duality. Stoker uses the existence of God as a driving force in order to juxtapose and show that morality in fact, is not a decree by some “God”, but rather a social construct created by man himself. Social construct also defines what is right and wrong.
Stoker strongly ties together the ideas of sin and sex. And rightfully so, as it is one of the pillars of christianity, to which Stoker refers to more often. Moreover, he uses this link in order to sexualize the role of the female. At the time period that Stoker wrote the novel, women were in a very confined gender role. Either a woman was pure did what she was told by men or she was a rebellious harlot; there was no room for the shades of grey in between. This is shown in the contrast between the female vampires and Mina and Lucy, living “pure” women. When recounting his interaction with three female vampires Jonathan Harker stated, “I was afraid to raise my eyelids, but looked out and saw perfectly under the lashes. The girl went on her knees, and bent over me, simply gloating. There was a deliberate voluptuousness which was both thrilling and repulsive, and as she arched her neck, she actually licked her lips like an animal. . . . Lower and lower went her head as the lips went below the range of my mouth and chin and seemed about to fasten on my throat. . . . I closed my eyes in a languorous ecstasy and waited—waited with beating heart” (Stoker, ch. 3). Again, Stoker is utilizing the vampire as a means to show the duality and corruption of morality. The Vampire’s are hyper-sexualized and Harker enjoys it. The Vampire’s feed upon blood and are sexual creatures; the embodiment of sin, while Jonathan Harker is supposed
to be a proper englishman. Stoker reveals to us that Harker may have a dark side and even in his fight for “morality” he is drawn towards the dark side and sin. Now making my way towards the obvious: vampires need to suck blood in order to live. Even that fundamental fact has a duality. Blood has a lot of connotations. Blood is the source of life to the entire rest of your body. Literally. Blood carries oxygen to your organs and it is pumped throughout the body by the heart, and if you’re alive, you have a steady heartbeat. When you say that someone is your “blood” it means that they are related to you, or that they are so close to you that they might as well be family. Blood is what gives people vibrancy and color. When a person blushes you instinctively know that the biological blood rushing to their cheeks means that they are experiencing intense human emotion. When you die, blood no longer pumps in your system. You become a lifeless, motionless corpse. Or in Bram Stoker’s world, you become a vampire. A monster that has the same hair, eyes, arms, legs, mouth, and appearance of a person but without life. Instead preying upon and literally sucking the life out of another person in order to perpetuate its own life. In Christianity, when a person consumes the “blood and body” of Christ, it is meant to be a ritualistic, holy, and cleansing act. Yet when a vampire does it, it is the ultimate sin. Who is to say what is right and wrong? Morality and God have been created by man. Who is the real sinner? These are all statements that Bram Stoker makes through his novel, Dracula.