AO1: Explain Anselms Ontological argument. Anselm wanted to prove the existence of God‚ so he proposed the ontological argument. The ontological argument is deductive‚ and uses a priori reasoning. This means that it starts with a statement that is known to be true solely through definition (God is the greatest conceivable being) and develops the implications of this statement in order to reach a reasonable conclusion. The deductive reasoning allows him to simply showing what the definition means
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Introduction St Anselm (1033-1109) fame rests on his belief that faith is prior to reason: “I do not seek to understand that I may believe‚ but I believe in order to understand. For this I also believe- that unless I believed‚ I should not understand”. Anselm employed his powers of reason in order to establish‚ by rational argument‚ the existence of God (Ally 2010:62). Anselm’s ontological argument When we are really thinking of something (and not merely uttering the associated verbal symbol)
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criticism of Anselm’s argument succeed in demonstrating that the argument fails? Gaunilo‚ a Benedictine monk and contemporary of St Anselm was the first to raise objections to Anselm’s idea that God exists by definition‚ claiming within “On behalf of the Fool” that Anselm’s argument was not logical and needed to be discredited. Gaunilo famously claimed that Anselm’s conclusion that the non-existence of God is “unintelligible” cannot show that God necessarily exists. Firstly‚ Gaunilo argued that the “fool”
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of the ontological argument as presented by Anselm‚ and explain its purpose. The ontological argument is A priori argument for the existence of God. St Anselm is the name most firmly associated with the origins of the ontological argument and he was an 11 century writer and the Archbishop of Canterbury. The argument has the form of a deductive proof and it an analytical argument. He wrote two treatises (the Monologion and Proslogion) which became the foundation of the Ontological Argument. The
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to outline the Ontological Argument‚ proposed by Anselm of Canterbury‚ to prove the existence of God (in particular the Christian God). It also discusses Gaunilo’s objection to the ontological argument with the use of the “Lost Island” analogy. And finally offers an opinion as to whether or not Gaunilo’s objection successfully refutes Anselm’s argument. Anselm’s ontological argument‚ sourced from the “Proslogium” (with himself as the author)‚ is a highly controversial argument that aims to prove
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Writing Assignment Number 2: 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
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Summary of the Ontological Argument 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. 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
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In the “Proslogion” Anselm argues God as the greatest conceivable being that exists in reality. In this essay‚ I will show that Anselm’s ontological argument is sound and his conclusion logically follows from his premises. I will consider an objection towards Anselm’s definition of God and show that it is unconvincing and flawed. The objection against Anselm’s ontological argument that I will consider will be one brought up by a contemporary of Anselm‚ Gauinilo. His objection was that if you were
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The Ontological Argument: An explanation and critical assessment Phil 361 Lec 01 Professor: Reid Buchanan Ryley Braun‚ 10013764 April 16‚ 2010 The ontological argument is an attempt to refute skepticism of God and prove His existence through reason alone. The philosopher‚ Saint Anselm‚ presented his work on the ontological argument‚ or argument from reason‚ in his text the Proslogium. The argument‚ on the surface‚ is very logically convincing and attempts to allure even the skeptic of
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Ontological Argument One of the most fascinating arguments for the existence of an all-perfect God is the ontological argument. Ontological arguments are arguments to prove the existence of God based on pure reason alone. They attempt to show that we can deduce God’s existence from‚ so to speak‚ the very definition of God. St. Anselm of Canterbury proposed the first and most well known ontological argument in 1078 in his Proslogion‚ but it was actually Immanuel Kant‚ an 18th century German philosopher
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