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Ontological Argument And Rowe's Analysis

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An argument that has existed for about as long as history itself is over the existence of God. Many different philosophers have given their take on the issue but the focus will be on St. Anselm’s, “The Ontological Argument” and William Rowe’s, “An Analysis of the Ontological Argument.” Anselm gives his piece with the intent to prove the existence of God in both the understanding and reality, while Rowe provides his analysis on the argument provided by Anselm while ultimately denying Anselm case. For something to exists in the understanding, it just has to be in the mind. A mythical creature or even a half man and half ice cream cone can exist in the understanding because it exists in the mind. To exist in reality, something must exist outside …show more content…

If God does not exist in reality, he must only exist in the understanding. The fifth premise is that God might have been greater than he is. This premise follows through premise two, three, and four. If God only exists only in the understanding, but might have existed in reality, and if so might have been greater than it is, than God might have been greater than he is. The sixth premise is that God is a being in which a greater is possible. This premise comes from premise five. If God might have been greater than he is, God must be a being in which a greater is possible. Following Anselm’s reductio ad absurdum argument brings us to the conclusion of the reductio ad absurdum portion in premise seven. The seventh premise is that the being than which none greater is possible, is a being than which a greater is possible. This premise brings us to a contradictory statement which sets up Anselm’s final two premises. The eighth premise is that premise four is false. Therefore, it is false that God only exists in the understanding. Anselm then concludes that God has to exist in reality and in the understanding (Rowe,

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What phrase does Anselm use to designate God? Explain why he formulates his designation in this way. Do you think this is an appropriate way to speak of God? The Phrase he used was “God is that than which no greater can be conceived”. There are two reasons as to why Anselm words this the way he does, reason one is the idea that “ no greater can be conceived” he doesn’t want you to be able to think about something greater hence the idea that no greater can be thought of by a person.

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Hunting is fun for some people, until you're being hunted. “The most dangerous game” is a short story written by Richard Connell. Zaroff demonstrates that he is confident, anxious, talented. First Zaroff is a very rich individual, i know he is talented because on ( pg.221) Rainsford was describing how big and nice zaroff house was “It was a huge, beam-ceilinged bedroom with a canopied bed enough for six men that Rainsford followed the silent giant.” Another way Zaroff is very rich because he also has his own island where he hunts more than just animals.

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Dr. Loury speaks with no circumscription against his opponents. Therefore, he tries to influence the emotions of the reader by using an accusatory tone when referring to his critics ' ideas as "dangerous." Loury (2013) effectively uses the device of metaphor to help his readers understand his argument when he says, "One could use a color-blind instrument to pursue racial goals and color-conscious instruments to pursue goals that are not necessarily racially defined" (p. 347). Loury doesn 't believe that color-blind policies can guarantee racial equality. But, can 't they?

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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

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The first premise is that something is loved by God because it is God loved. The second premise is that pious is God loved because it is pious. We can simply change the premises into another easily understand form by marking “loved by God” as “A”, “God loved as B” and “pious” as “C”. Therefore, the first premise now is that something is “A” because it is “B”. The second premise now is that something is “B” because it is “C”.

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The definition of God is the greatest being. A thought of something that exists is greater than a thought of something that does not exist. That means if God is just a thought that does not exist, there must be a being greater than Him. This would contradict the definition of God. Therefore, God must exist so that the definition would be true.

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The ontological argument is one of the three main arguments for the existence of the Judeo-Christian God. This argument is designed to appeal to rational rather than non-rational reasons for the existence of God. Rational reasoning can be identified through the use of reason, logic, argumentation, and our shared observations of the world, whereas non-rational reasoning is characterized by subjective religious experience. However, the ontological argument does not appeal to the logic consisting of our shared observations of the world because it focuses on the reflection of our own idea of God, therefore validating the cosmological argument to be a priori since none of it’s premises require empirical support. St. Anselm of Canterbury provided a renowned version of the cosmological argument around 1080 AD that establishes the existence of God by reflecting on our idea of Him.

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If God only exists in human understanding, there leaves a possibility that something greater can be conceived. In this sense, there is an implied

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In “Why Believe” by Saint Anselm, there lies a compelling argument which utilizes a Reductio Ad Absurdum argument to prove his conclusion. Anselm begins his argument with four premises, then states his Reductio Ad Absurdum argument, and finally concludes his whole argument with “God exists.” The argument for the existence of God by Anselm begins with his definition of God which is “a being than which nothing greater can be conceived.”

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God’s existence is not dependent on anything else because God existed before anybody else did. Humans would not exist if God did not exist. I also agree that a being that exists in the understanding and in reality is greater than just existing in only the understanding or reality because if a being does not exist in both places then it does not seem real. For example, if we did not have the bible and churches it would be hard for a lot of people to believe that God is real because we would only know the stories that has been shared by others that over the years could get misconstrued so, his existence would only be in the understanding, and that is why a being who exists in reality and the understanding is greater. I agree with mostly all of Anselm beliefs except for his belief that you cannot think of “nothing” at any time because you are always thinking of something.

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Since premise two has been rebuffed by me, it renders premise 3 unsound which in turn renders premise four unsound thereby proving that God does not exist and proving that the first cause argument does not validate or prove the existence of God. The first cause argument while it is a very important argument still lacks credibility and is self-defeating as it is riddled with a lot of problems that makes it hard to reach a true and sound

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This argument is built on the basis that God operates and exists differently from humans; more specifically, that he exists “outside” of our Earthly reality. Therefore, many of our human spatial concepts do not apply to him. God should not be thought of as existing “now”, because the way time operates and is perceived by humans does not apply to him. Rather, God exists completely apart from the realm of time. This means that even if God has knowledge of the outcome of events on Earth, his knowledge of them is not had before, during, or after they

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2001 p. 180). To fully understand Anselm’s argument, a series of steps needs to be understood. The first step towards understanding Anselm’s argument is that one must first accept the fact that God is the greatest possible being. The second fact or point to note is that God exists in the human mind or understanding. The third point, step, or fact to accept is that if God exists only in the human mind, then God is not the greatest possible being (McGrath & OverDrive, Inc. 2001

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However, one of the arguments is superior ant that is the ontological argument. The Ontological argument is the stronger of the two due to the fact that it is based in pure logic and reasoning. The major premise of the Ontological argument is about what God is. In the Abrahamic tradition God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent.

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St. Anselm and Descartes are known for presenting the first ontological arguments on the existence of God. The word ontological is a compound word derived from ‘ont’ which means exists or being and ‘–ology’ which means the study of. Even though Anselm and Descartes’ arguments differ slightly, they both stem from the same reasoning. Unlike the other two arguments on God’s existence (teleological and cosmological), the ontological argument does not seek to use any empirical evidence but rather concentrates on pure reason. The rationale behind this school of thought

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