The form of the argument is that of a reductio ad absurdum argument. In the 11th century, saint anselm, the archbishop of canterbury, proposed the first and bestknown ontological argument for the existence of god. Although this argument has been presented as unassailable and irrefutable, there have been, however, some very important attempted refutations from very reputable and important scholars. More specifically, ontological arguments tend to start with an a priori theory about the organization of the universe. Anselms a prioriargument for the existence of god today we will look at anselms ontological argument for the existence of god. The ontological argument is the attempt to prove, simply from an examination of the concept of god, that the being to which that concept would apply must in fact exist. Why study the proslogion of st anselm with karen kilby. God is that than which nothing greater can be conceived or. Saint anselms ontological argument is distinctive from other arguments that attempt to prove that it is the existence of god, the creator, and not just some abstract entity that is being defined. The ontological argument describes god as a being than which nothing greater can be conceived, anselm argued that the greatest possible being must exist otherwise he would not be the greatest possible being, although he must be the greatest possible being in every way.
We then o er a detailed preparatory study of the basic concepts involved in anselms argument. Anselms ontological argument for the existence of god anselms argument is an a priori argument. Anselms ontological argument essay example graduateway. Criticisms of anselms ontological argument the postbarthian. If we can construct a similar argument to a given argument with the same form as the original with true premisses and a false conclusion, then the given argument is also shown to be invalid. The argument is not too broad and in fact can only work for god for it does claim that god is the greatest member of a category, but that god is greater than all things in all categories and only god can be that. What is anselms ontological argument for the existence of. The ontological argument for gods existence intellectual background neoplatonism plotinus 204270 ce st. Anselms proslogion ontological argument for gods existence.
St anselms ontological argument is a deductive, priori, analytic argument which seeks to establish the existence of god by understanding the attributes of god in the sense of classic theism. A criticism of anselms ontological argument leaving. Designed for aqa a2 this powerpoint takes you through the ontological argument. Anselm tried to put forward any proofs of the existence of god. Anselm had prayed for a single, short argument by which to. Anselm of canterburys ontological argument the postbarthian. The ontological argument is a priori, it comes before evidence and relies on reason, e.
The honor of being the first to present this argument fully and clearly belongs to saint anselm of canterbury 10331109. 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. In the present sense of this term, there are infinitely many ontologi cal arguments, all of them valid. Anselm of canterbury, who defined god as the greatest conceivable being. Anselms ontological argument for the existence of god corners around the definition of god as a being than which nothing greater can be conceived as well as two modes of existence, in the understanding and in reality anselm chapter 2. Anselm, archbishop of canterbury first set forth the ontological argument in the eleventh century. This leads stewart, in his influential paper, to conclude that the ontological argument, as such, is never considered by hume. An ontological argument is a philosophical argument for the existence of god that uses ontology. The ontological argument st anselm and descartes both famously presented an ontological argument for the existence of god. Anselm of canterbury is most famous for his ontological argument for the existence of god, which is that god is the greatest necessary being that which may be thought of paraphrase.
An ontological argument is an argument that attempts to prove the existence of god by thinking alone. Anselm the ontological argument flashcards quizlet. But many philosophers are skeptical about this underlying assumption. It covers everything in the specification and uses the nelson thornes book as a guide. Anselm 10331109 was a benedictine christian monk, catholic theologian, and archbishop of canterbury prior to the church of england becoming a distinct entity from the roman church, though there were episodes in anselms life which highlighted the tension between england and rome, and perhaps.
The core of anselms ontological argument uses a reductio ad absurdum structure to attempt to prove the existence of god. This is an a prioriargument for the existence of god. Types of existence paul tillich argued that god does not exist in the same contingent way that all matter in the universe does. 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. Their versions of the argument are slightly different, but. There is an enormous literature on the material in proslogion iiiii. The word ontological comes from ontology, the study of ology of what exists or being ont. We rst present a number of requirements that any successful reconstruction should meet. Anselm developed a controversial a priori argument for the existence of god. Many arguments fall under the category of the ontological, and they tend to involve arguments about the state of being or existing. Deity, then i call that argument an ontological argument. Anselm wrote his proslogion as a prayer originally, but it later became an argument for god by establishing his attributes. 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. The premise of saint anselms ontological argument is that, no greater being can be conceived than god.
It was critized and somewhat ambivalently rejected by thomas aquinas. Saint anselm, archbishop of canterbury 10331109, is the creator of the ontological argument. He has two versions of it, and they are the most widely discussed among the many versions of this argument. The ontological argument for the existence of god is the only a priori argument for gods existence. There are excerpts the works of philosophers who tackled the ontological proof for gods existence, in. Anselms definition of god as the being than which no greater can be conceived is impossible to understandthere is no. Having receded from the forefront of intellectual thought after being refuted by st. Anselm 10331109 was archbishop of canterbury and wrote many influential works, including his proslogium, monologium and cur deus homo. What is anselms reply to the perfect island objection. The ontological argument for the existence of god i. Essay anselms ontological argument 1281 words bartleby. Evaluate anselms ontological argument for the existence of god. Anselms ontological argument for the existence of god. Speaks january 6, 2006 1 anselms presentation of the argument anselms argument begins with a statement of what god is.
The ontological argument for the existence of god anselm of canterbury the ontological argument for the existence of god, as it is found in its classical form, was first formulated by the eleventh century benedictine monk, archbishop and theologian, st anselm of canterbury 10331109. A good discussion with extensive links to the history, classification, and classic objections to. This argument is the primary locus for such philosophical problems as whether existence is a property and whether or not the notion of necessary existence is intelligible. Anselm had a clear understanding of an all knowing, all powerful and an all loving god, thus believing god exists. Now we believe that you are are something than which nothing greater can be thought. Explain the ontological argument from anselms perspective. Introduction a nselm s ontological argument is an ad hominem argument against the foole, part of which is a reductio ad absurdum, designed to prove the existence of god. One must read gingerly through the ontological argument from st. The ontological argument is widely thought to have been first clearly articulated by st. And finally there is one more strong criticism where anselms argument fails. The argument for the existence of god will always give rise to infinitive points of view. The difference between anselms original ontological argument and modern ones like goedels or plantingas is that while anselms is full of terrible reasoning, goedels reasoning is unsurprisingly watertight and all the terribleness is concentrated in. Anselms versions of the ontological argument descartes is not the first philosopher to state this argument.
In this paper, we discuss formal reconstructions of anselms ontological argument. Anselm ontological argument the ontological argument by. Explain anselms ontological argument essay example. Anselm claims that we can prove the existence of god, without any evidence from experience, simply by understanding the conceptof god. Although anselms argument for gods existence presented in this article is based on predominately on reason, anselm presents the argument as clarification christian faith. I shall devote special atten tion to one particular ontological argument, the most modest, since many of its features are. The difference between anselms original ontological. An a priori argument does not have to be supported by real or factual evidence just by reason without observation. He does this by showing that if the negation of the conclusion is followed then this leads to absurdity a false or nonsensical conclusion. 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.
The ontological argument for the existence of god cross. The heart of his argument is the insight that if god is defined as a being than which no greater can be conceived, then god could not be. The reasoning of the ontological argument, anselm argued, can legitimately be applied only in one very unique case. As is clearly evident, the ontological argument rests on the assumption that the concept of god, as it is described in the argument, is selfconsistent. Anselm intended to prove the existence of god, there is disagreement about where the proof is. Anselm proposes that if god can be thought of and perceived, then he must. An analysis of the ontological argument of st anselm by ian corfield introduction st anselm 1033ce1109ce was a philosopher and theologian and held the office of archbishop of canterbury from 1093ce until his death. He is remembered chiefly as the originator of the first ontological argument for the existence of god. Therefore, the reasoning of the ontological argument dodges the parody, its reasoning is not parallel to the parody argument, and it cannot be used to prove the existence of a lost island. Deals with the argument as laid down by anselm and developed by descartes. Augustine 353430 ce collapse of the western roman empire 476 ce the ontological argument anselms definition. Ontological arguments stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. Proslogium, monologium, an appendix in behalf of the fool by gaunilon, and cur deus homo with an introduction, bibliography, and reprints of the opinions of leading philosophers and writers on the ontological argument, chicago.
1269 1381 1401 1529 999 25 996 257 285 1542 1266 1153 37 1375 817 742 1096 646 796 123 1155 1530 815 614 1493 1455 1112 832 1363 122 1310 1 293 289 273 83 653 890 332 192 1486 83 1306