Arguments from reason

• What is ontology?


  A study of the nature of being
• What type of argument is the ontological argument? (use three words)


  A priori, analytic, deductive
• Who was Anselm responding to in his book 'Proslogion'?


  The 'fool
• What definition of God does Anselm use?


  God is that than which nothing greater can be conceived
• Explain Proslogion 2


  God is TTWNGCBC, so He must exist in reality, as it is greater to exist in the mind and in reality than just the mind
• What does Anselm mean when he says that existence is a predicate?


  It is an essential characteristic of God
• How does Gaunilo challange Proslogion 2?


  We can imagine a perfect island, but it does not exist in reality
• How does Anselm respond with Proslogion 3?


  God is TTWNGCBC, so He is not a contingient being as He does not rely on anything to exist, therefore He must be necessary and must exist
• How is Proslogion 3 a response to Gaunilo's criticism?


  God is a necessary being, while the island is contingent
• How does Alvin Plantinga defend Anselm in response to Gaunilo?


  Islands have no intrinsic maximum, while God is maximally great
• Who was Descartes?


  Mathematician and philosopher
• What is Descartes' version of the ontological argument based on the definition that God is a 'supremely perfect being'?


  God is a supremely perfect being, so He must have existence as existence is a perfection
• How does Descartes argue that God must exist since we have the concept of a perfect God in our imperfect minds?


  We are imperfect beings, so it is impossible for us to imagine a perfect being, therefore God exists
• What two examples does Descartes use to argue that existence is a predicate of God?


  The defining characteristic of a triangle is its three sides

  A mountain and a valley rely on one another
• Why does Kant say that existence is not a real/determining predicate and how does he do this?


  Existence does not add any additional information to the description of something e.g. saying a melon exists does not add any additional information to the statement
• What is another one of Kant's criticisms towards the ontological argument?


  If the word God means an existing God, then Anselm and Descartes are saying 'an existing God exists
• How does Norman Malcolm argue that God necessarily exists?


  God is TTWNGCBC, if He came into existence, He would be contingent, which goes against the definition, therefore His existence must be either impossible or necessary

  It can't be impossible as the concept is not self-contradictory or logically absurd, so God is necessary and He exists
• What is a strength of the ontological argument?


  Anslem's definition of God is widely accepted by both theists and atheists
• What is a logical fallacy?


  An error in reasoning
• What is an assumption made by the ontological argument?


  That God is TTWNGCBC
• What type of argument does Russel use to show that existence is not a predicate?


  A syllogism
• What are two other challenges to the ontological argument?


  We all have different ideas of God, so noone has an accurate idea of who He is (Aquinas)

  If we reject with the definition of God, then the deductive nature means that the rest of the argument fails