Preview

Defense Of The Ontological Argument Essay

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1949 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Defense Of The Ontological Argument Essay
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 with its criticisms. Hopefully the essay will be convincing enough for the reader to not accept the words from Scott Aikin that the ontological argument is merely “the litmus test for intellectual seriousness”.

It is interesting to note …show more content…
The cosmological argument in short asserts that the universe had an “original cause”. The basic idea being that everything that moves is moved by something, that also had to have been moved by something else and so on. So the “original mover”, the one who began the universe would have to be God. Just like the first domino in a cascade, the first domino is to be metaphorically applied to God. The proof for this theory would therefore come from the observations on the nature of causality in the exterior …show more content…
However they are not strong enough to dismiss the theory. Premise 1 of Gaunilo’s argument seems to be incoherent. The properties of a perfect island do not have intrinsic maximums. A perfect island can always be better, for example if the island had 100 trees, it could be greater with 101 trees and so on. There is no maximum number of trees that make it great. The island has no intrinsic maximum as the greatest possible island is incoherent. This is not the same with God as Anselm argues. God’s attributes such as power and knowledge have limits. God knows everything and therefore it is conceptually impossible for him to know anything
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Kalem Cosmological Argument Proving The Existence Of God
    • 644 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Kalem Cosmological Argument Proving The Existence Of God

    Consistently from the dawn of human existence, the idea of “God”, or simply the questions of the place from whence the human body has come from forced any individual to consider the religious value or idea of God regarding God’s responsibility for every piece of matter in which makes up life. One of the most critical arguments that claim that there must be a God is the Kalem Cosmological argument, which uses the universe’s mere existence or the beginning of the universe’s existence to claim that whatever has a beginning, must have a cause, insinuating that the cause of the universe’s beginning is in theory, God. Though with creative intellect in further questioning it’s impossible for one not to question that the Cosmological argument may be correct in theory, but does the cause of the universe have to be God? Throughout this paper, I’ll be focusing on the argument that God’s existence does not have to be the direct cause of the begging of the universe, nor does the cosmological argument actually prove the existence of God for that matter.…

    • 644 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Summary Of Cantebury's Ontological Argument
    • 662 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Summary Of Cantebury's Ontological Argument

    St. Anselm, Archbishop of Cantebury (1033-1109), is the originator of the ontological argument, which he describes in the Proslogium as follows: [Even a] fool, when he hears of … a being than which nothing greater can be conceived … understands what he hears, and what he understands is in his understanding.… And assuredly that, than which nothing greater can be conceived, St. Anselm, Archbishop of Cantebury (1033-1109), is the originator of the ontological argument, which he describes in the Proslogium as follows: [Even a] fool, when he hears of … a being than which nothing greater can be conceived … understands what he hears, and what he understands is in his understanding.… And assuredly that, than which nothing greater can be conceived,St. Anselm, Archbishop of Cantebury (1033-1109), is the originator of the ontological argument, which he describes in the…

    • 662 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Examine the Key Concepts of the Ontological Argument for the Existence of God
    • 455 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Examine the Key Concepts of the Ontological Argument for the Existence of God

    1b) Examine the key concepts of the ontological argument for the existence of God (18)…

    • 455 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Anselm Ontological Argument Analysis
    • 118 Words
    • 1 Page

    Anselm Ontological Argument Analysis

    Anselm is not trying to say that whatever one can think of exist because, everyone can think of something that does not exist. Neither is he trying to saying believing in something without any doubt makes it exist. Finally Anselm might believe in God, he is not trying to convince us that God exist but rather he is trying to show us that once one understands or grasp the concept of who or what God, then based on logic it follows that God has to exist. Anselm ontological argument follows that if one makes an assumption and can show things that follow from that assumption lead to contradiction, then the initial assumption is rejected and conclude the opposite…

    • 118 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Anselm's Ontological Argument
    • 475 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Anselm's Ontological Argument

    As well there is no limit to how great this island could be because the properties that add to the greatness of this island have no intrinsic maximum, so could not possibly exist. Another of Gaunilo’s flaws with his objection is that he spoke of the most perfect island and not the most perfect island conceivable. This makes Gaunilo’s objection flawed as he is not basing his argument on the same basis of Anselm, that being his definition of God. Anselm also claims in his argument that God exists in the understanding, because God is not able to literally exist in the understanding. It is true that God may be idea or perception that we have though and this was another objection to his…

    • 475 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Cosmological Argument From Evil Essay
    • 450 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Cosmological Argument From Evil Essay

    Outline the Ontological argument for the existence of God and consider the view that, while it may strengthen a believer’s faith, it has no value for the non ....…

    • 450 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Anselm's Ontological Argument Essay
    • 436 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Anselm's Ontological Argument Essay

    Gaunilo responds to Anselm ‘on behalf of the fool’, he rejects Anselms argument by drawing a parallel with a lost island, saying if we imagine the greatest possible island then it must exist somewhere, he is basically saying we can’t define things into existence. Anselm responds to this saying that his argument can only apply to God, as only god has all perfections.…

    • 436 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    What Is The Design Argument For God's Existence
    • 172 Words
    • 1 Page

    What Is The Design Argument For God's Existence

    One of the most fascinating arguments for the existence of an all-perfect God is the ontological argument. While there are several different versions of the argument, all purport to show that it is self-contradictory to deny that there exists a greatest possible being. Thus, on this general line of argument, it is a necessary truth that such a being exists; and this being is the God of traditional Western theism. This article explains and evaluates classic and contemporary versions of the ontological argument.…

    • 172 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Key Features of the Cosmological Argument
    • 552 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Key Features of the Cosmological Argument

    The cosmological argument seeks to prove the existence of God on the basis that the universe has not always been in existence and so for it to be created, an external cause was necessary; this outside agent is viewed as God. It creates à posteriori knowledge which provides inductive explanations and makes conclusions on ideas based on actual experiences. It is a non-propositional argument so it cannot be proven but can be argued by offering experience as support.…

    • 552 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    response to Being an Atheist
    • 2161 Words
    • 9 Pages

    response to Being an Atheist

    In fact McCloskey places the bar even lower by referring to the “proofs of” rather than “arguments for” God’s existence, thereby overstating the Theist’s claim. With respect to the “proofs” for God’s existence that McCloskey attempts to deal with, namely the Cosmological and Teleological Arguments, McCloskey offers trivial objections that are easily answered. With respect to arguments for God’s non-existence, McCloskey offers the logical form of the problem of evil which, while rich in rhetoric, does not contain enough logic to necessitate its title. McCloskey ends his article with a pragmatic justification of Atheist, stating that Atheism is more comforting that Theism; a point that is stark in its irrelevance.…

    • 2161 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    The Cosmological Argument Analysis
    • 1190 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Cosmological Argument Analysis

    The cosmological argument proves the existence of God. It discusses contingent beings which exist, but could not have existed and necessary beings which exist and could not not exist. The cosmological says that there is a contingent being that exists. The existence of a contingent being must have a cause and the contingent being cannot be the cause of itself. The complete cause of a contingent being includes only other contingent beings or it includes a necessary being. Contingent beings alone cannot be the complete cause of a contingent being. The complete cause of a contingent being must include a necessary being. Therefore, a necessary being must exist. The cosmological argument shows that there must be a higher power, and that higher power is God. Everything that exists on earth is a contingent being. There is no person or animal that is not contingent. But what created everything to begin with if a contingent being cannot be the only cause of another contingent being? Everything on earth has a cause, but there must be a necessary being being that caused the Earth. There has to be something other than contingent beings. There has to be a necessary being that started everything. That necessary being is…

    • 1190 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Ontological Argument
    • 566 Words
    • 3 Pages

    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 because it does not address the issue of certainty, which plays an important role in Gaunilo’s objection. First, I will explain, in greater depth, Anselm’s ontological argument. I will then elaborate on why Gaunilo denies that than which nothing greater can be conceived exists in the understanding. Lastly, I will argue why Anselm’s response to Gaunilo’s attack is insufficient.…

    • 566 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Cosmological Argument
    • 559 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Cosmological Argument

    The cosmological argument for God’s existence differs from both the scriptural and ontological arguments in the way in which humans created it. Rather than looking at logical arguments or religious texts, the cosmological argument was derived because of humanity’s ability to project their need for cause onto the world. The cosmological argument is centered on the way in which we, humans in general, perceive there to be a need for a God due to the existence of the world around us.…

    • 559 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    The Ontological Argument Analysis
    • 1416 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The Ontological Argument Analysis

    This particular argument is also in favor if the idea that God does in fact exist, but Aquinas has a different explanation from Anselm. Thomas Aquinas presents the argument known as the “Cosmological” or “first cause”. In a few words, this means that Aquinas believes there must have been a first cause in the world. Aquinas argues that the proof of Gods existence is based on the basis of experiences. God must exist because every being that is dependent for existence was caused by something else that happened prior to it. He believes either there is a boundless chain of contingent beings that is extending backwards or there is a first cause, something that was not caused by something else but began everything else. But in reality, there cannot be a continuous chain extending backwards. Therefore; there is a first cause, something that was not caused by anything else but started everything else that currently exists. Aquinas claims the existence of God can be proven in five ways: Argument from motion, Nature of efficient cause, possibility and necessity, gradation, and Governance of the world. Aquinas gives us an argument that is not hard to interpret. There must have been one who created mankind, constructing the world one being at a time. It is very easy to go along with the idea that there is one person or thing that created everything else. While this argument is clear and…

    • 1416 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    ontological argument
    • 538 Words
    • 3 Pages

    ontological argument

    In the 11th century, St. Anselm presented his argument for the existence of God in his published work, the Proslogion. His work was based on 4 premises which led to the conclusion that God must exist. His 1st premise was that he defined God as to mean “that than which nothing greater can be conceived.” For him God is the greatest conceivable entity. He also asked what is greater: God as an idea or God as in existing thing? St. Anselm stands for this: that “God as an existing thing” because existence means perfection, like it is better to exist than not to exist. Therefore, God exists. Since existence is a part of the definition of God, God doesn’t just exist, He exists necessarily. It means that it is impossible for God to stop existing or not to have always existed. The 2nd premise of St. Anselm was that both believers and non-believers accept this even “the fool” in Psalm 14. His 3rd premise was that it is possible to exist either just in the mind, or in both the mind and reality. In his 4th and last premise, he said that it is better to exist both in the mind and in reality. Therefore, St. Anselm came up with this conclusion that God must both exist in the mind and in the reality.…

    • 538 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics