Anselms ontological argument for the existence of god. It seems at the outset that there is something strange about this argument. 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. Anselms argument in proslogion 2 was a reflection or prayer rather than a formal piece of. As clearly as possible, restate anselms ontological argument. Anselms actual argument, unlike most versions, is an exercise in intentional logic, a fact that. Anselm began with the concept of god as that than which nothing greater can be conceived. However, not everyone who is acquainted with the argument has been converted. The form of the argument is that of a reductio ad absurdum argument. These researchers, who concede the modal version of the argument, endeavour to demonstrate its. A critique of anselms ontological argument john woodlee is a senior.
Speaks january 6, 2006 1 anselms presentation of the argument anselms argument begins with a statement of what god is. In an analytic proposition, the predicate concept is contained in its subject concept. This online translation of the proslogion is taken from a new, interpretive translation of st. Anselms ontological argument for the existence of god anselms argument is an a priori argument. Ontological argument, argument that proceeds from the idea of god to the reality of god. Anselm of canterbury 10331109 the greatest philosopher of the eleventh century, anselm of canterbury was the author of some dozen works whose originality and subtlety earned him the title of father of scholasticism. It is the argument that, if one understands what is meant by the word god and follows it out to the logical conclusion, it is impossible for such a being not to exist. The origins of the ontological argument are usually seen in the writings of st anselm of canterbury. He has two versions of it, and they are the most widely discussed among the many versions of this argument. A good discussion with extensive links to the history, classification, and classic objections to. There is an enormous literature on the material in proslogion iiiii. Compare anselms argument to paleys design argument for gods existence. Third, it is inconceivable that one and the same thing could have both existenceinreality and existenceintheunderstanding.
Anselm of canterbury, who defined god as the greatest conceivable being. Gods existence, which holds that the idea of god in ones mind is evidence of a. Aquinas claims that 1 not everybody understands god to be that than which nothing greater can be thought, 2 anselms reasoning assumes, rather than establishes, the. For anselm, mental things that have existenceintheunderstanding exist just as much as nonmental things that have existenceinreality, but in a different way. Anselm 10331109 was archbishop of canterbury and wrote many influential works, including his proslogium, monologium and cur deus homo. Anselm of canterburys ontological argument the postbarthian. First, it aims at introducing the ontological argument through the analysis of five historical developments. This is an a priori argument for the existence of god. The honor of being the first to present this argument fully and clearly belongs to saint anselm of canterbury 10331109. Moa resumed disputes among analytical philosophers.
The ontological argument for the existence of god is a classical christian argument that contends that the very concept of god logically and necessarily demands existence. Anselms proof, known since the time of kant as the ontological argument for the existence of god, has played an important role in the history of philosophy and has been incorporated in various forms into the systems of descartes, leibniz, hegel, and others. To think of such a being as existing only in thought and not also in reality involves a. Saint anselm of canterbury o ered several arguments for the existence of god. Best known in the modern era for his ontological argument, designed to prove gods existence. He does this by showing that if the negation of the conclusion is followed then this leads to absurdity a false or nonsensical conclusion. The ontological argument from st anselm, proslogium, trans. 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. Charles hartshorne and the ontological argument aporia vol.
Other ontological arguments must be judged on their own merits. Anselm begins with a stipulative definition of god as a being than which no greater being can be conceived. Ontological argument criticisms introduction to philosophy. We shall confine our attention to one of the arguments that can, with some plausibility, be extracted from chapter ii of the proslogionnot the only one, but the one i take to be both sim plest and soundest. Immanuel kant 17241804 claimed that there are only three possi ble ways of proving the existence of god by means. Anselm ontological argument san jose state university. Second, the proof depends on a flawed interpretation of the denial of gods existence. One of the famous arguments for the existence of god is the ontological argument. The ontological argument has proved to be a constant source of fascination for philosophers, all the way down through the ages since its first statement by saint. Now we believe that you are are something than which nothing greater can be thought.
And, as is well known, of all the versions of the ontological argument, it is anselms argument for gods existence that stands out the most. Anselms name will forever be associated with the ontological argument for. Anselms ontological argument is certainly one of the most audacious arguments in the history of western philosophy. Pdf in this article i offer a new interpretation of saint anselms ontological argument. The ontological argument for the existence of god i. Wikipedias reprint from the scholarly 1911 encyclopedia britannica on anselms life and works anselm, the ontological argument a short selection of anselms argument from proslogium 2 in the online reading for philosophical inquiry on this site. This volume includes the proslogion, gaunilos reply to the ontological argument, and anselms reply to gaunilos reply. The structure of the ontological argument is simple and straightforward. Anselmss ontological argument is stated, and a few standard st. Ontological arguments stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. One of the first to formulate the ontological argument was st. Anselm defined god as a being than which no greater can be conceived, and which exists 2, and argued that this being must exist in the mind, even in the mind of the person who denies the existence of god. The third paper, by john rushby 18, deals with anselms argument. Anselm 10331109 of canterbury was born in aosta, italy.
Anselm puts forth a second argument, also ontological and a priori, that concerns necessary existence rather than existence. The paper concludes by discussing the broader significance of this second objection. Many recent authors have interpreted this argument as a modal one. Saint anselm of canterbury 10331109 was the outstanding christian philosopher and theologian of the eleventh century. Ontological argument for the gods existence internet. In fact, anselms ontological argument has provoked a collection of strange, convoluted, and unconvincing responses. In this paper i argue, against plantinga and others, that kants claim is indeed relevant to anselms argument, in the straightforward sense that if the claim is true, then anselms argument is unsound. Gaunilo, a monk and contemporary of anselm, thought the argument could prove that the mythical lost island of oceanea surpassing all others in natural riches must exist. St anselm of canterbury benedictine monk 10331109 ontological arguments the term is kants appear in his work. Anselm means when he writes there is only one way god can be. Ontological argument the ontological argument is widely thought to have been first clearly articulated by st. What everybody knows is wrong with the ontological. His criticism is primarily directed at descartes, but also attacks leibniz. The paper examines the way in which faith seeking understanding, the ontological argument, and the derivation of the divine attributes from the original formula in the proslogion repeat this pattern of yielding conclusions.
Anselm claims that we can prove the existence of god, without any evidence from experience, simply by understanding the conceptof god. My idea of god is the idea of a supremely perfect being. Speaks january 10, 2006 gaunilo, a monk who was a contemporary of st. He is best known for the celebrated ontological argument for the existence of god in the proslogion, but his contributions to philosophical theology and indeed to philosophy more generally go well beyond the ontological argument. In the present sense of this term, there are infinitely many ontologi cal arguments, all of them valid. Anselm developed a controversial a priori argument for the existence of god. This is an a prioriargument for the existence of god.
Anselms ontological argument alleges that god exists is a statement that, if we are thinking clearly and understand the definition of god, we can know to be true. My aim is to demonstrate that the significance of this. Ontological arguments are arguments, for the conclusion that god. Formulation of the argument the ontological argument notoriously comes in countless ver sions. Anselm intended to prove the existence of god, there is disagreement about where the proof is. It is shaped by his central distinction between analytic and synthetic propositions. 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. Anselms versions of the ontological argument descartes is not the first philosopher to state this argument. The ontological argument simple version in meditation 5, descartes argument for the existence of god looks something like this. Immanuel kant put forward an influential criticism of the ontological argument in his critique of pure reason. The ontological argument for gods existence was first laid out in the form we see today by anselm of canterbury 10331109 who was a monk living in france and england and writing about. Anselm presents a philosophical argument for the existence of god. Saint anselm of canterbury 10331109 was a medieval philosopher, theologian, prior of bec, and archbishop of canterbury from 1093 to 1109. The first ontological argument in the western christian tradition 1 was proposed by anselm of canterbury in his 1078 work proslogion.
Having receded from the forefront of intellectual thought after being refuted by st. The ontological argument is widely thought to have been first clearly articulated by st. Anselms argument found in the second chapter of his proslogion, gaunilos criticism of. The core of anselms ontological argument uses a reductio ad absurdum structure to attempt to prove the existence of god. Anselm himself views as both necessary and paradoxical.
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