Argument for Existence of God
The real is the rational, and the rational is the real. In philosophical discussion, no statement is, perhaps, more important or more controversial. Yet, this is the very position that I advocate within this paper. The equation of the rational with the real is at the heart of the argument I here consider, that being the ontological argument for the existence of God.
There are several versions of the ontological argument for the existence of God, which is to say that several versions exist. The reason I add the redundancy about the existence of the versions of the arguments is to call attention to the fact that it is a great debate in philosophy what one means by existence and what one can and cannot say of something regarding its existence. Typically, the particular arguments called ontological arguments for the existence of God have been attacked because the argument is said to claim more about existence than can be proved about existence.
An ontological argument for the existence of God typically attempts to prove the existence of God a priori, that is independent of experience via reason. Unlike the cosmological and teleological arguments which all make some first appeal to what one can observe in nature, the ontological argument begins with a definition of God and deduces conclusions which follow from the definition.
In one version of the ontological argument, St. Anselm of Canterbury attempted to prove the existence of a necessarily existing being, and since Anselm others have wrestled with his famous ontological argument for the existence of God. The version of the argument I wish to consider is this:
It [God] can be conceived to be something such that we cannot conceive of it as not exis...
... middle of paper ...
...ce between the two absurdities is that one is more obviously absurd at first thought than the other. Nevertheless, both are absurd, and one should not be expected to dream up all the infinitely absurd objections that exist. How is one supposed to anticipate such absurdity? The argument that existential propositions cannot be necessary is an argument that depends upon the existence of at least one thing necessarily (that there is a law of noncontradiction) even to make the argument, and furthermore is based on the mistaken notion that contingency does not depend upon necessity. Finally, existence can be understood conceptually as a predicate despite the logical confusion that Kant and others have tried to introduce. There is meaningfulness in necessary existential propositions, and therefore ontological argument can stand against the objections raised in this paper.
An Argument for the Existence of God God can be defined as a being conceived as the perfect, omnipotent, omniscient originator and ruler of the universe, the principal object of faith and worship in monotheistic religions (1). There are many people that do not believe in any religion. People who do not believe in a religion have no reason for believing in a God. People who do not believe in a God and argue against the existence of God are proving something that is completely false. There is
The Argument for the Existence of God It is an undisputed fact that some people claim to have experienced God. It is these religious experiences that have been used by philosophers to argue for the existence of God. The main way of expressing the argument from religious experience is as follows: P1 Someone experiences an entity C1 The entity exists P2 Someone has experienced God C2 God exists Those who champion the argument seek to differentiate ordinary experiences and religious
The Ontological Argument for the Existence of God The ontological argument is an a priori argument. The arguments attempt to prove God's existence from the meaning of the word God. The ontological argument was introduced by Anselm of Canterbury in his book Proslogion. Anselm's classical argument was based on two principals and the two most involved in this is St Anselm of Canterbury as previously mentioned and Rene Descartes. The ontological argument argues that if you understand what
The existence of God has been a topic of controversy for centuries. In 1968, the article “On being an Atheist”, was written by H.J. McCloskey discussing his personal views and reasons, as an atheist, for not believing in the existence of God. McCloskey attempts to discredit the arguments for the existence of God. In doing so, he critiques the cosmological and teleological arguments as well as discusses the presence of evil and suffering in order to show sufficient evidence to reject the belief in
Descartes would agree with Anselm’s conclusion that God exists but he would likely attack Anselm’s method of reaching this conclusion with the Fool. The arguments share a major commonality in their reliance upon the human mind in proving God’s existence. In both arguments, God’s existence becomes evident when reflecting on an idea of God. In both cases, possessing an idea of God is enough to prove God’s existence. These similarities, however, are not be enough to protect Anselm from Descartes’ hypothetical
The Cosmological Argument attempts to prove that God exists by showing that there cannot be an infinite number of regressions of causes to things that exist. It states that there must be a final uncaused-cause of all things. This uncaused-cause is asserted to be God. Arguments like this are thought up to recognize why we and the universe exist. The Cosmological Argument takes several forms but is basically represented below. Cosmological Argument Things exist It is possible for
In the argument, he states that in his mind he has the idea of perfection and every idea has a cause. Thus, "the idea of perfection must have a cause". Therefore, the only thing that could be responsible for this idea of perfection must be just as perfect as the idea of perfection; because "ideas and their causes have common properties". This means that a perfect thing caused the idea of perfection and the only perfect thing is God. As a result of all the above mention reasons, God must exist
question is does God exist. Past and present philosophers have tried to figure out the answer to this question. There are three arguments that argue that God does indeed exist. The three classical arguments for the existence of God are the cosmological, ontological, and teleological arguments. All three of these arguments have a different way for believing God does exist. The cosmological argument is the oldest argument for the existence of God and is the most used argument. The argument is called the
evil is similar to the existence of god since there also has to be the existence of evil. The existence of God and evil has been discussed by philosophers and people for years over whether they are compatible. The debate is based on how a person interprets the existence of God and evil. In the excerpt, Surprise! It’s Judgment Day from Basic Problems of Philosophy, it involves God and Martin at the gates of heaven and Martin is furious about how God forces people to suffer, but God could require people
Design Argument for the Existence of God While theology may take God's existence as absolutely necessary on the basis of authority, faith, or discovery, many philosophers have thought it possible to demonstrate by reason that there must be a God. The teleological argument, also known as the argument from design quite simply states that a designer must exist since the universe and living things display elements of design in their order, consistency, unity and pattern. The argument says that
Descartes employs what is known as an ontological argument to prove the existence of God. Saint Anselm who lived during the 11th century first formulated this type of argument. Since then it has proved popular with many philosophers including Rene` Descartes. Even though ontological arguments have lost popularity with modern philosophers there has been some recent attempts to revive them. Descartes formulation is regarded as being one of the best because it is straight forward and relatively easy
The existence of God and whether or not God intervenes is a highly debated subject. Three worldviews on the epistemology of God that are considered to have logical and valid arguments are: theism, deism, and agnosticism. Theism and deism both involve a belief that God exists, however theists will argue that God is personal or intervenes in our lives whereas deists would disagree. Agnostics hold the view that we cannot be sure that God exists. Of these, theism may be the most probable worldview. One
To begin, Anselm makes the argument that God is “that than which no greater can be conceived.” He first supposes that a person’s definition of God clearly exists in their understanding as an all knowing omnipotent God. He assumes that whether you believe in a God or not, we all have an idea of God in our minds. Anselm begins to reflect on the idea that when one thinks of God, he is something that is greater. Often when people think of God we don’t think of something lowly. Throughout many cultures
All moral arguments for the existence of God work on the principle that we all have a shared sense of morality. Despite cultural differences, broadly speaking, humans worldwide have a vague idea of what is right and what is wrong; a moral argument for the existence of God would say that this mutual understanding is proof of God's existence. Immanuel Kant put forward this argument (although, not a moral argument); God as the source of objective morality. Firstly, he addressed the categorical imperative;
For many generations, the topic of the existence of God has been a constant debate, it has many arguments between atheism and theism. This question, along with numerous other questions are important in human philosophy, several people think if you can’t see it or feel it, then it must not be real, while others consider if God exist, then why do bad things happen, why is there so much evil in the world? Everyone has their own beliefs and we can relate in a way that many people, believers and nonbelievers