 |
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
Descartes
Descartes' modification of the argument concentrates on the idea of God as the most perfect being. This argument states that a God who does not exist would be less perfect than one who did. From this point of view, existence is considered as one of God's perfect qualities.
St. Anselm
Anselm's view can be summarised as follows:
1. Nothing greater than God can be conceived.
2. The idea of God exists in our mind.
3. If God only existed in our minds He would not be as great as one who actually existed.
4. Therefore, the idea of God - as a conception which cannot be bettered - must correspond to one in reality (i.e. He actually exists).
History
The argument was first put forward by the Christian theologian St Anselm (1033-1109) in his work the Proslogion, but was later picked up by the French philosopher Rene Descartes (1596-1650) who modified it slightly to concentrate on the idea of God's perfection necessarily involving existence.
Questions
1. If the idea that a type of thing "than which
no greater could be conceived" must necessarily exist, might this not
apply to the most perfect potato, or the best golfer? Must they necessarily
exist too?
2. Aquinas' response to the above argues that necessary existence cannot apply
to ordinary things (such as potatoes and golfers) because material things
can go in and out of existence (someone might make chips out of the perfect
potato) - this, however, does not apply to God. Is this a good argument?
3. Descartes' modification of the cosmological argument involves considering
existence as a perfection - but can existence be compared to other perfect
qualities (such as "goodness", "justice", etc.)?
4. If we consider it necessary first for something to exist in order to have
qualities then would it be possible for existence still to be one of those
qualities?
Summary
The word "ontology" is a Greek word relating to the concept of being. The ontological argument itself therefore argues the existence of God by saying that His being by nature includes the concept of necessary existence.