outlines his Ontological argument in the form of a prayer spoken directly to God. As a firm believer in God‚ Anselm wished to prove God’s existence and confirm his strong faith by using logic and reason. The Ontological argument is a priori and is based on deductive reasoning because it seeks to prove the existence of God from the understanding of the attributes of the God of classical theism. Chapter Two of the Proslogion introduces Anselm’s argument. The first part of the argument focuses on the
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Ontological Argument One of the most fascinating arguments for the existence of an all-perfect God is the ontological argument. Ontological arguments are arguments to prove the existence of God based on pure reason alone. They attempt to show that we can deduce God’s existence from‚ so to speak‚ the very definition of God. St. Anselm of Canterbury proposed the first and most well known ontological argument in 1078 in his Proslogion‚ but it was actually Immanuel Kant‚ an 18th century German philosopher
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Writing Assignment Number 2: The Ontological Argument Through the ontological argument‚ Anselm seeks to prove that God exists and he attempts to refute the fool who says in his heart that there is no God. This fool has two important characteristics: he understands the claim that God exists and he does not believe that God exists. Gaunilo plays the role of the “fool” and challenges Anselm’s ontological argument. I will argue that Anselm’s response to Gaunilo’s attack is not adequate
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The Ontological Argument: An explanation and critical assessment Phil 361 Lec 01 Professor: Reid Buchanan Ryley Braun‚ 10013764 April 16‚ 2010 The ontological argument is an attempt to refute skepticism of God and prove His existence through reason alone. The philosopher‚ Saint Anselm‚ presented his work on the ontological argument‚ or argument from reason‚ in his text the Proslogium. The argument‚ on the surface‚ is very logically convincing and attempts to allure even the skeptic of
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The Ontological Argument itself was proposed by Saint Anselm‚ who was the Archbishop of Canterbury. This argument was proposed in order to prove the existence of God‚ and since its creation has caused quite a bit of controversy. This argument is also known as a reduction ad absurdum‚ known more colloquially as “reduces to absurdity”‚ of Atheism as it draws a deep comparison between two beings where one only exists in understanding while the other exactly similar being exists in reality. This is one
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and weaknesses of ontological argument The Ontological Argument was‚ and still is‚ a hot-topic for debate among philosophers; many famous philosophers have published criticisms of the theory including Immanuel Kant and St. Thomas Aquinas. This obviously raises questions regarding whether or not this argument works. While there is no clear-cut answer to these questions‚ I personally believe that the negatives of this argument outweigh the positives‚ thereby making it a weak argument. The first published
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Outline Descartes’ Ontological Argument and explain the key objections that may be used against it. Descartes took the Ontological Argument as presented by Anselm and developed it in a different form. Descartes saw the argument in terms of necessary existence. For Descartes‚ the idea of God necessarily entails his existence. He established that our thoughts are evidence of our own existence (‘I think therefore I am’)‚ and so wanted to see what else he could prove exists. He used the example of a
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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
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A defense of the ontological argument Daniel Andrews In this essay I will first explain the ontological argument and my reasons for choosing it. I will then discuss why I believe it is a better account for the existence of god than the teleological argument and the cosmological argument. I will then move onto discuss various theologians that oppose the ontological argument and critique their responses. The aim of the essay if to show the strength of the argument and to expose some key weaknesses
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St. Anselm (1033/34-1109)‚ was abbot of Bec and later archbishop of Canterbury (pg. 444). The Ontological Argument‚ has two basic arguments that God exists and there is not greater being than God. Anselm’s main goal is to deepen the love and understanding of God‚ and uses natural theology. This is the study of what could be know about God independently of special revelation. His argument is that we can only think of things that exists in our reality. If we can think of it‚ it already exists‚ like
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