Preview

The Ontological Argument For Existence Of God

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
142 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Ontological Argument For Existence Of God
The ontological argument is a philosophical argument for existence of God. It argues that God is the greatest of all, and no being could possibly be greater. And it proves itself by the theory that God exists as an idea in our minds. Therefore God is also an idea that exists in reality. If God only was an idea of the mind and not reality we should be able to think of something greater that exists in both. Since we can not think of anything greater that exists in our mind and reality, God exists. The greatest island fails as an objection to the ontological argument because there could always be a better island. There is no intrinsic maximum for an island. The thought of God is a perfection of all sorts, like morals and power. These do have an

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Examine the ways in which the design argument provides evidence for the existence of God…

    • 984 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The teleological argument is one made for the existence of God. William Paley’s argument is based on the idea that the universe is too complicated to have been created by accident and so must have had a creator. This creator is assumed to be God, who has created the universe and all the parts in it serve a certain purpose. A close consideration of this argument will show that there are several problems with it.…

    • 462 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    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 including mind and reality. Anselm said atheists can define God even if they don’t believe in him. René Descartes said “I think therefore I am”, this means that if you can think about it you do exist, therefore if we think about God; he must exist. God must have all perfections in order to be the greatest being; existence was perfection is…

    • 503 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    After reviewing McCloskey's article it is clear to say that he wanted to truly appeal to an atheist audience. McCloskey refers to the arguments as "proofs", which means that he is trying to insinuate that these arguments are not scientifically proven and are not based on facts. A proof is a statement that is unquestionable and lead to an end. He also implies that the arguments cannot definitely establish the case for God, so therefore they should be abandoned because this way he can use that term to make the argument that God exists less plausible. Specifically, the cosmological argument, teleological argument, and arguments of design in general cannot be proven and cannot point to an end, but they do provide possible arguments that God does…

    • 484 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The paper is due on Thursday, July 24, by 9am (i.e., by the start of class on that day). Please…

    • 471 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    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
  • Good Essays

    The most common and influential argument’s for the existence of God are design arguments. In the last fifty years design arguments have received the most attention philosophically. Design arguments are both empirical and inductive arguments. Design arguments identify properties of objects in nature and argue that the only way that they could have occurred or the best explanation for them is that there is some intelligent/higher being that created or conceived the object. William Paley was a Christian apologist in the eighteenth century who was known for his popular version of the teleological argument (“watchmaker analogy”). Paley stressed the idea that the world’s complexity and design is not based off luck or chance, but rather designed by…

    • 157 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    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
  • Better Essays

    Give an account of the fundamental ideas of the Design Argument for the existence of God…

    • 1541 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Examine some of the key principles of the argument for the existence of God based upon religious experiences…

    • 777 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    There are 3 main arguments that each seek to prove the existence of God; the Ontological, Cosmological, and Teleological Arguments. Each is different in its approach, but all arrive at the same conclusion. Ontological Argument argues God’s existence from the assumption of the existence a “Greatest Thing that can ever be conceived.” From there, it argues that in order for something to be “The Greatest Thing ever” it must exist physically (that is outside of the mind). The Cosmological Argument argues that since everything in the universe is contingent (or is dependent on other things for its existence), there must be a first cause that set the universe in motion.…

    • 1954 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The design argument is concerned to find the meaning or purpose in this world; they seek to move from facts about the world to God. Like the cosmological argument, the design argument draws back to arguments put forward by Socrates and Plato who said that ‘the human body, with all its principles and elements must owe its origin…of Zeus’. The design argument considers a number of issues for example; why is the universe the way that it is? As expected, it has undergone many different transformations that have transformed it into a theistic argument (on that seeks to prove the existence of the God of classical theism). It suggests that certain aspects in the universe are…

    • 956 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Have you ever thought to yourself, is there a god? Is there actually an almighty being to protect us? Someone who will be there to forgive us for our immoralities? Well in this report, I will be examining evidence there is that suggests the existence of god to determine whether or not there I a possibility of the existence of God.…

    • 971 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ontological Argument

    • 1714 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The perfect island is up to subjective interpretation. Even if someone is unsure of this specific claim, we can replace the island with anything, revealing a huge flaw in Anselm’s argument. Either all of these arguments are sound, or none of them are. As rational beings, we must conclude on the latter of the two – there can be no perfect cell phone, no perfect Calgary Flames, no matter how much we wish there could be. In defense of Anselm, Alvin Plantinga claims that the argument can only be applied to God, the greatest possible thing. Meaning the island has no possible limit to how great it can be. Then – how much knowledge (where knowledge could be replaced with any quality of God’s) does God have? The believer would reply He has the perfect amount, of course. Well, in direct comparison to the island or the Calgary Flames, one may ask, how many players do the perfect Calgary Flames need to trade to make the playoffs? Gaunilo would answer the perfect amount. Thus, Gaunilo’s argument is as coherent and sound as…

    • 1714 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    ontological argument

    • 538 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Ontological Argument of St. Anselm is an a priori argument; it is formulated through reason alone, rather than experience. This argument does not rely on external evidence or sense experience. It is deductive (universal to particular) as it draws from its argument purely from a set of premises.…

    • 538 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays