Anselms Arguments

• Syllogisms - (means inference/conclusion) (created by plato/socrates); are a form of deductive reasoning where you arrive at a specific conclusion by examining two other premises.
• Synthetic - true/falce based on sense experience, a posteriori. Analytic - true by definition or by the meaning of the words, a priori.
• Anselm - in the 1100s, italian, was a benedictine monk and an educator.
• Anselm and the philosophical climate: he was 'father of scholasticism', a method of learning with an emphasis on dialectal reasoning to extend knowledge by inference. Famous for rigorous intellectual thought.
• Anselms intent - "faith seeking understanding", he tries to display logical consistency in belief in god and help believers.
• Anselm's monologican was religious and apologetic (attempt to explain gods quality), tries to create an a priori argument for gods existence. (not the ontological argument)
• Monologian argument: says there must be a supremly 'good' being which is the root of all goodness. There must be a standard against which we judge 'goodness', it must be the best thing. Best thing must be responsible for all other things that exist. God is good within himself - nothing makes him good
• Monologian links to principle of aseity: if god is self sufficient he doesn't need a reason for existence, he simply exists.
• Anselm's Prosologion contains the ontological argument. He aimed to create a single argument to prove god exists. Based on psalm 14 " the fool says in his heart there is no god"; suggests there must be a simple and undeniable reason for gods existence.
• Anselm defines god as "a being nothing greater than which can be concived" in his ontological argument.
• Ontological Argument: a thing can either exist in the mind alone or in both the mind and reality, if something exists in both that must mean it is greater than things that exist in the mind alone, since nothing can be greater than god he must have maximum greatness in everything, therefore god exists in the mind so must exist in reality.
• Karl Barth to Anselm's ontological: anselm must be understood from position of "faith seeking understanding", thought anselm developed ontological to understand the god who he already believed existed.
• Anselm ontological strength as a proof for gods existence: does not rely on empirical evidence; is an analytic truth; forces beliver to consider what they mean by god - can support some of the qualities of god.
• Strength of Anselms ontological as logic: can apply to world and is logical. Has a firm deductive base - if accept premise then conclusion is necessarily true.