Anselm s Argument On The Ontological Argument - 1614 Words

Stephanie Iwaszkiw PHL 101 Dr. Wiitala Final Paper In the Prologion, Anselm argues that God exists, otherwise known as the ontological argument. Anselm believes that â€Å"there is no doubt that something than which a greater cannot be thought exists both in the understanding and in reality (Anselm, Proslogion, 7).† In other words, we cannot imagine something that is able to be greater than God; it would be a contradiction to think being greater than the greatest possible being that can be thought of. A number of philosophers do not agree with Anselm’s argument, such as Gaunilo, St. Thomas Aquinas, and Immanuel Kant. However, despite these arguments against him, Anselm’s argument is still valid. Anselm’s argument, the ontological argument, states that we cannot imagine something that is able to be greater than God. There are six premises for his argument: first, it is a theoretical truth that God is the greatest possible being that is able to be thought of. Second, God is present as an idea in the mind. T hird, one that is present as an idea in the mind and in reality is, holding everything else as being equal, greater than one that is present only as an idea in the mind. The fourth premise states that thus, if God is present only as an idea in the mind, then we are able to think of something that is greater than God, or a greatest possible being that exists. However, the fifth premise states that we are not able to think of something that is greater than God because it wouldShow MoreRelatedAnselm s Ontological Argument On The Existence Of God935 Words   |  4 PagesAnselm’s Ontological argument sets out to not only prove God’s existence, but to show that God’s existence is self-evident. Similar to other ontological arguments, it uses a priori knowledge to argue its validity, meaning that the propositions made are derived from internal reasoning instead of sense experience. The argument begins with Anselm defining the term God as â€Å"that, than which nothing greater can be conceived† (pg.26). Although simple, once this term is accepted Anselm believes he has successfullyRead MoreValidity And Effectiveness Of Anselm s Ontological Argument On The Existence Of God1095 Words   |  5 Pagesexamining the validity and effectiveness of Anselm s Ontological Argument on the existence of God. I will begin by presenting Anselm’s Ontological Argument from the ground up. This includes the argument, basic idea, initial assumptions, Anselm’s definition of god, and Anselm s distinctions which are needed to completely understand the nature of my argument. 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As Anselm firmly believed in God, he wanted to prove God ´s existence through use of logic and reason and thus set out to demonstrate it in his most popular book named â€Å"Proslogion† (1078) in which he proposed one argument that, centuriesRead MoreOntological Argument For The Existence Of God1083 Words   |  5 Pagesdiscuss the argument of Anselms ontological argument for the existence of god. His basis of his argument being an analytical breakdown for the reason fot gods exsistence. While also establishing that Anselms inferences found with his use of deduction and logical means to prove the existence of a higher being are indeed true. In addition I will defend Anselms argument by depicting other people’s objections against his argument. Specifically the argument made by Gaunilo, who disagreed with Anselms argumentRead MoreThe Arguments For T he Existence Of God1056 Words   |  5 PagesAmie Kamara Professor Davidson Theology 16 November 2015 Rough Draft for The arguments for the Existence of God. The question Does God Exist? is a well-known asked question in the world. Most people believe they know the answer to it. The religious people would say, well of course he does, while the non-religious people or atheist would say no He does not exist. Because evil exist and chaos exists, God cannot be all-powerful. In the modern world, there are many different opinions as to whether