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)‚ that thinking is our understanding (2010:63). Of course‚ we need not understand that it exists‚ for we may be thinking
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Anselm’s ontological argument is an a priori proof of God’s existence. Anselm starts with an idea that depends on experience for their justification and then proceeds by purely logical means to the conclusion that God exists. His aim is to refute “the fool who says in his heart there is no God” (Psalms 14:1) this is showing that the ‘fool’ has important features which are; he understands the claim that God exists and he does not believe God exists. Anselm said “an atheist cannot consistently be an
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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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Part B. The ontological argument is a convincing argument. Discuss. The ontological argument was first made famous in the 11th century by St Anslem from Canterbury and was later taken further by French philosopher Rene Descartes. The debate is an attempt to confirm God’s existence as a priori argument. It does not rely on observations of the world around us it simply uses logic and the idea that it is illogical to say that God does not exist as its main factor. There are three elements to St
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Modern Versions of the Ontological Argument Norman Malcolm One influential attempt to ground the ontological argument in the notion of God as an unlimited being. As Malcolm describes this idea: “God is usually conceived of as an unlimited being. He is conceived of as a being who could not be limited‚ that is‚ as an absolutely unlimited being.… If God is conceived to be an absolutely unlimited being He must be conceived to be unlimited in regard to His existence as well as His operation. In this
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Explain Anselm’s Ontological argument (25 marks) Anselm‚ Archbishop of Canterbury and a monk was the creator of the Ontological Argument. The main aspect behind the argument was that the existence of God was true‚ in simple words‚ God exists. The argument is deductive as it depends only on knowledge and logic‚ not on experience as experiencing God is impossible physically. It is also a priori for similar reasons; the argument relies on logic alone. Anselm put forward his ideas about the existence
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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 asses the strengths of the Ontological Argument for Gods existence‚ we firstly need to understand what it entails. The Ontological Argument looks at proof ’A Priori’‚ which is Analytical truth‚ reason based proof. This can be explained by saying 1+1=2. We know this to be true‚ as it is based on reasoning‚ and is a logical statement. This can be seen as a strength of the Ontological Argument‚ the fact that it is logical and rational. It deals with knowledge gained independently of experience‚ innate
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1b) Examine the key concepts of the ontological argument for the existence of God (18) The ontological argument rests on the premise that the universe’s existence is contingent- it depends on something else to exist. The argument is deductive‚ analytic and a priori‚ and was first formed by St. Anselm‚ who prayed for a short argument that would prove God to be “that than which nothing greater can be conceived”. This prayer was called the proslogion and tried to prove God by means of reductio ad
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The weaknesses of the Ontological Argument give support to Atheism. Discuss this claim (12 marks) Anselm’s ontological argument described in part (a)‚ was refuted in his own lifetime‚ by Gaunilo‚ who demonstrated in a reduction ad absurdum of his own‚ that if the logic of the argument were applied to things other than God‚ it led to invalid conclusions. Gaunilo didn’t identify any specific fault with the argument‚ but argued that something must be wrong with it‚ because if there wasn’t anything
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