Transcript Slide 1

Religious Studies
The Ontological Argument
Quick Revision Guide
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The odd one out
• The Ontological Argument is an A Priori
argument for the existence of God.
• This means that it is not based on experience.
• Indeed it claims to prove the existence of God
via logic and reason alone.
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STEP ONE: Think about God
• Think about your idea of God. Write down some
phrases that describe what God would be like if
he existed. For example: All powerful.
• If we were to sum it up in one phrase; you
could define God as a being who is ‘that than
which nothing greater can be conceived’.
• Or if you prefer ‘the Greatest Conceivable
Being’. After all can you think of anything
greater than God?
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Anselm’s first Ontological Argument
Now that we have our definition of the word
God and our intelligence, we may begin!
The 11th Century Archbishop of Canterbury,
Anselm, used the following argument in his
Proslogion. He entitles the chapter ‘To the
Fool’. (see Psalm 14 to find out why!)
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Anselm’s first Ontological Argument (continued)
1. Consider the idea of God. Those who understand
the word know that it means the Greatest
conceivable being. A being ‘than which no greater
can be conceived’.
2. The Greatest Conceivable being (GCB) could not
be the GCB if he only existed in the mind,
because a greater being could exist in reality.
3. So in order to be the GCB, the Greatest
Conceivable Being must exist in the mind and in
reality.
4. Therefore God must exist in reality, he exists.
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Interlude: ‘Living on an island’
Another 11th Century Monk, Gaunilo, thinks he
has discovered where Anselm has gone wrong...
TASK: spend 5 minutes drawing your perfect
island.
Good News! Your island exists! (why?)
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Gaunilo’s Criticism
Gaunilo uses a philosophical device known as reductio ad absurdum.
Look what happens to Anselm’s argument if we change the word
God to a perfect island
• Consider the idea of a Perfect Island. Those who understand the
words know that it means the best possible island. An island
‘than which no greater can be conceived’.
• The best possible island (BPI) could not be the BPI if it only
existed in the imagination, because a better island could exist in
reality.
• So in order to be the BPI, the best possible island must exist in
mind and in reality. Therefore your island must exist in reality.
So if you can prove the existence of anything with this argument
there must be something wrong with it.
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Anselm’s second Ontological Argument
Anselm has another Ontological Argument. Some thinkers suggest that this
argument avoids the difficulty of the first. To understand this, you will
need to remind yourself what the words ‘necessary’ and ‘contingent’
mean.
• Consider the idea of God; this means a being that cannot be surpassed
in greatness, a perfect being.
• This GCB cannot simply exist contingently it would be greater if he had
necessary existence. In other words, it cannot be thought not to exist
• As God is by definition the GCB, he must have necessary existence.
• A logically necessary being is one whose non-existence is impossible
• Therefore God necessarily has to exist.
Consider: is this an improvement?
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Two points to note
• Contrary to popular opinion (and some
textbooks) Anselm is not replying to Gaunilo in
his second formulation of the argument. It is
already written!
• Gaunilo is not an atheist, he believes in God.
He is just not persuaded by Anselm’s argument
We can now go forward 500 years and meet
Descartes. A man who claims that if you
understand triangles, you’ll know that God must
exist!
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Descartes on triangles
• Think about a triangle
• It has to have 3 sides,
have internal angles of
180 degrees etc.
• These things are
necessary to the
definition of triangles
• Descartes goes on to
apply this to God.
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Descartes on God
Descartes applies the things that he has learned
about triangles to God
1. God by definition is a supremely perfect being
2. A supremely perfect being has all perfections
3. Existence is one of these perfections
4. Therefore God has existence, he exists.
All the above things must necessarily be true
provided we understand what is meant by the
concept of God.
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God has to exist? Surely not!
• What has happened? Has some sort of trick
been pulled here? Even Descartes admits we
might be stunned by his conclusion.
• He thinks this only works for God. It won’t work
for a long lost island.
• This is because God is the only being whose
essence (what he is like) entails existence.
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Kant’s criticism of the argument
• Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) delivered what many people
consider to be the knockout blow in the Ontological
Argument.
• Kant observes that we can make two types of statement:
• An analytic statement is a statement where we say
nothing new about the world
for example: ‘A bicycle has two wheels.’ ‘The bachelor
is unmarried.’ We don’t need to finish our sentences,
the statement is implied in our choice of word.
• A Synthetic statement is one that does say something
about the world. ‘The car is blue.’ has to checked using
our senses.
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Kant (continued)
• To check that you understand the difference between
analytic and synthetic statements. Give an example of an
analytic and a synthetic statement for each of the
following:
a) A bicycle
b) A triangle
c) A black box
Kant thinks that when Philosophers say that ‘God is a
Necessary Being.’ or ‘God has to exist.’ they are making an
analytic statement. In other words they are talking about
what words mean not whether God exists or not.
Hence it is like saying, ‘If there was a God, he would have to
exist’.
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Kant’s killer point!
Once upon a time there was a boy.
The boy. . .
• Kicks the ball
• Makes a cup of tea
• Dances madly for 28 hours without stopping
• Exists.
Something unusual about the last one?
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Kant’s killer point (2)
“The boy
(subject)
stood on the burning deck.”
(predicate (verb+object))
Kant says that “Existence is not a predicate”.
It is not a property. Existence is to do with the
subject not the predicate.
If you take away existence you take away
everything.
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Understanding Kant
The Job Interview: You are interviewing for a new RS
teacher. List 5 essential qualities they will need.
Consider:
• what if I add ‘existence’ to the list and insist that
all candidates should possess it
• or suppose we get down to a short list of two. They
are identical except one has existence and one
does not.
Kant suggests that the Ontological Argument is a
similar ‘oddity’.
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Ontological Argument: summary
Anselm (1): God exists
because the greatest
conceivable being should
exist in reality as well as
the mind.
Gaunilo: But my
perfect island would be
better if it were real!
Anselm (2): God has
necessary existence.
Descartes: God has to
exist, existence is one of
his necessary perfections.
Kant: Existence is not a
predicate, not an extra
property that you can
add on.
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For the exam...
• Well done! Hopefully you now understand the
ONTOLOGICAL ARGUMENT
• You will need to be able to explain each of the
4 thinkers and assess whether each of them is
successful in what they try to do.