The Major Features of the Ontological Argument for the...

The Major Features of the Ontological Argument for the Existence of God The ontological argument for the existence of God was originally set out in eleventh century by St. Anselm in his Proslogian. Anselm was a Benedictine monk, Archbishop of Canterbury, and one of the great medieval theologians. It has received a lot of both support and criticism from leaning philosophers. The argument is appeals to those who already believe in the existence of God than to an atheist. The argument is entirely a priori; it seeks to demonstrate that God exists on the basis of that concept alone, and show existence as an attribute/characteristic of God, in the same way omnipotence and benevolence are considered to†¦show more content†¦So according to Anslem it is self-contradictory to conceive of something than which nothing greater can be thought and yet to deny that that something exists. The second stage is the idea that it is illogical to think God does not exist. This idea is that because the highest possible thought of God is the He exists, thus his exist ence is impossible. This is the concept of necessary existence, God cannot not exist, and something which has necessary existence is something that exists in all possible worlds. God is perceived to have necessary existence because God is eternal and created the world and He is not limited by time, as He is outside of it. Thus God must exist in reality. Later in the 17th century Descartes developed the argument further, he used his form of the ontological argument to be a part of his argument that the external world exists. Descartes viewed God as a supremely perfect being, possessing all perfections, which includes existence and thus God has to exist. Descartes argue that an object had to posses certain qualities or else it could not be considered to be an object, for example, triangles angles must add up to 180 degrees. In the same way thus existence cannot be separated from the idea of God. In the 20th Century there have been two main philosophers who have worked noteably on the Ontological Argument, Norman Malcolm and Alvin Plantinga. MalcolmsShow MoreRelatedTwo Philosophical Arguments for the Existence of God1460 Words   |  6 Pagesto Compare and evaluate two philosophical arguments for the existence of God. Throughout the course of this essay we shall examine two of the major philosophical arguments for the existence of God. The arguments that we are going to focus on shall be the Design argument and the Ontological argument. We shall compare, evaluate and discuss both the Design (or teleological) argument for the existence of God and the Ontological Argument for the existence of God, as well as highlighting philosophical criticismsRead MoreDoes God Exist? Essay1972 Words   |  8 Pagesor not God exists. 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