ipl-logo

Anselm's Ontological Argument Analysis

761 Words4 Pages

PH2211 In this essay, I will first break down Anselm’s ontological argument with a powerful criticism, and then defend Anselm’s position. Following that, I will analyze both positions critically and provide my own stand regarding Anselm’s argument. The problem with Anselm’s ontological argument provided by Rowe in his book is the problem of definition. Gaunilo noticed that the definition of God as “a being than which none greater is possible” is infallible, in the sense that, the definition itself would force God into existence whether or not it is true. In order to show how this works, Gaunilo proposed a perfect island where it is “an island than which no greater island is possible”. Consider Gaunilo’s amendment: 1. A perfect Island exists in the understanding. 2. A perfect Island might have existed in reality. 3. If something exists only in the understanding and might have existed in reality, then it might have been greater than it is. 4. Suppose a perfect island exists only in the understanding. 5. A perfect island might have been greater …show more content…

Firstly, it is formidable since he is able to give the atheist the most charitable assumption that “God exists only in the understanding”, and then go on to show its contradiction and reduce it to absurdity. Furthermore, the defense for Anselm’s argument is a strong one. With the infinity argument, Anselm can solidify his claim that his argument is an exclusive argument for “sui generis” entities. Of course, skeptics would have us agree that two such entities may not prove that all such entities can seamlessly pass Anselm’s argument. However, with the infinity argument, we are one step closer to understanding how Anselm’s argument truly works. Thus, until a criticism that a “sui generis” concept that does not exist in reality is forced into existence by Anselm’s argument, his argument ultimately is able to hold together impressively. (758

Show More
Related
378 Words | 2 Pages

The ontological argument states that perfection is a part of the concept of God, and that perfection entails existence, and so the concept of God entails God’s existence. However, it can be argued that if God is an infinite goodness, then its contrary, evil, should not exist. Alas, there is evil in the world, and, therefore, God cannot exist. The ontological argument also seeks to demonstrate that God exists on the basis of concept alone. Pascal’s Wager attempts to justify the belief in God with an

Read More
513 Words | 3 Pages

He states that Saint Anselm’s argument is impossible for the mind to grasp, and that imaging up anything to perfection can be done on anything, and the example he used was a tropical island. Saint Anselm counter argues back at Gaunilon that there is no perfect definition of what a tropical island could be unlike God. God does have a perfect definition and is not imagined as lacking any perfection. In God’s perfection he must exist in reality and not just in the mind in order to be the most perfect of all. This topic is a bit over my head for the fact that I never though this complex before about God.

Read More
384 Words | 2 Pages

I have to admit that Zimmerman’s talk was hard at times for me to comprehend. I would love feedback if I understood his divine argument wrong, because I have had a few discussions about it with my peers and many took away different views from his final argument for a divine being, and in this paper I will explain how I understood his final argument. To come upon the divine being of God, he had to eliminate all the other contingent and necessary options believed by other philosophers and scientists through reasoning. He explained how it wasn’t possible for their to be no answer for the cosmos, nor were any of the contingent explanations of science, philosophy, or an infinite past made any sense.

Read More
249 Words | 1 Pages

I enjoyed the topic of the Annotation 1 worksheet, because I personally disagreed with the stance of the author. The Article argues that disallowing welfare users to spend their food stamp money on sugary drinks would allow users to lead healthier lives, but I do not think that the situation is that black and white. According to the article, “They would still receive every penny of support they now get, meaning they would have as much, if not more, to spend on nutritious food” (Farley). I believe that health can be a social construct, and what might be healthy to one person might not be healthy to another, and banning sugary drinks, does not mean that welfare users will go further in the act and make healthier decisions about everything purchased.

Read More
1068 Words | 5 Pages

It has been said that the average person lies 10 to 200 times a day. This is why it is almost impossible to tell the truth from a lie, especially if the person is a stranger. The attitude from characters towards strangers presented in Moon of the Crusted Snow and Bird Box emphasizes how in times of despair, the way in which newcomers are treated and unfamiliar situations are addressed is altered. Feelings and emotions cloud judgment, leaving people more susceptible to lies and deception. Furthermore, when people are put face to face with stressful situations, they are more likely to make impulsive decisions to gain back power, respect, security and stability.

Read More
1377 Words | 6 Pages

Anselm’s argument is based on this known definition of the concept of God alone. Descartes’ argument for the existence of God is based on his foundation of knowledge, logic. Humans have the idea in their minds of infinite perfection. Humans also have the idea of themselves as inferior to this idea as imperfect. For humans to have the idea of infinite perfection, there must be truth in the reason for them having this idea.

Read More
871 Words | 4 Pages

The objection addressed the validity of the argument which had the premise 1, nothing is the efficient cause of itself except God and premise 2, a chain of causes cannot be infinite. The argument thus concludes there must be a first cause. This conclusion agrees with my thesis that Saint Thomas Aquinas’s argument formulated in the second way leads to a valid argument, which concludes that there must be a first cause and that God

Read More
1797 Words | 8 Pages

In this essay, I will set out to prove that Thomas Aquinas’ First Cause Argument does not show that God exists and the conclusion that God exists does not follow from the premises of the first cause argument. I do think that the conclusion is valid and could be sound/or has the potential to be, but the premises fail to provide the basis upon which to reach such a conclusion. Hence, I will be raising some objections to the premises and will try to disprove any counter-arguments that could be raised in its defense. This would be done by examining Aquinas’ First Cause Argument and trying to disprove it whilst countering arguments in its defense.

Read More
539 Words | 3 Pages

Before restating the Anselm’s argument for the existence of God, it is important to understand who Anselm was and what might have compelled him to come up with the ontological argument for the existence of God. Anselm’s background information will be helpful in evaluating the validity and reliability of his arguments. Anselm was born in Italy in c. 1033. In 1063, he entered the famous monastery. In 1093, he moved to England, having been appointed Archbishop of Canterbury.

Read More
724 Words | 3 Pages

God must exist in reality as well as in the understanding. This reading of the argument is amply confirmed by the final paragraph, and this is the way he proves that it is true: “Therefore, if that than which nothing greater could be conceived exists in the understanding alone, the very being than which nothing greater could be conceived is one than which a better can be conceived. But obviously this is impossible.

Read More
1411 Words | 6 Pages

Secondly, the lack of complete understanding of a God that is greater than any other is the basis of Anselm’s argument. In other words, one needs not understand how it is that no other greater God exists, because it is not possible to do that. It is the concept of understanding that such a being exists that is important. As long as it is possible to have such a state, then the definition given by Anselm is

Read More
945 Words | 4 Pages

In other words, Anselm stipulates that God must exist since we can’t think of something greater than God but Descartes says the main reason why God exists is because he is a perfect being. St. Anselm and Descartes arguments are without doubt the most important arguments to the existence of God. They formed the basis for further discussion both by those that agree to these schools of thought as well as those that saw the arguments as weak and decided to show why. Both philosophers agreed that the comprehension of the concept of God was sufficient for anyone to believe in the existence of God even though Anselm argument was skewed towards our inability to conceive a more powerful being while Descartes mainly concentrates on the perfect nature in

Read More
1538 Words | 7 Pages

that there exist instances of intense suffering which an omnipotent, omniscient being could have prevented without thereby losing some greater good or lesser evil. ”(Rowe 370) In that case, the theists counterargument is as solid as that of the atheists’. With the G.E. Moore shift, the theists are able to argue for God’s existence without denying the premise presented by the atheists.

Read More
929 Words | 4 Pages

A lot of arguments have been known to prove or disprove the existence of God, and the Problem of Evil is one of them. The Problem of Evil argues that it is impossible to have God and evil existing in the same world. Due to ideal characteristics of God, evil should not have a chance to exist and make human suffer. In this essay, I will examine the argument for the Problem of Evil, a possible theodicy against the argument, and reply to the theodicy. First of all, to be clear, the Problem of Evil is an argument that shows that God cannot be either all- powerful, all-knowing, and/or all good.

Read More
1178 Words | 5 Pages

PAPER #2 History of philosophy: Philosophy 20B Thomas Aquinas reasons that “God is one” in the Summa theologiae, part one, question eleven, article three. Using three proofs, one on “Gods simplicity,” the second on “the infinity of Gods perfection” and the last based on “the unity of the world.” The following will be Dissecting and providing explanations along with criticism. As well, what it is meant by “God is one”.

Read More

More about Anselm's Ontological Argument Analysis

Related Topics

Open Document