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The Ontological Argument

The ontological argument is a philosophical argument for the existence of God that uses ontology—the state of being or existing. The ontological argument remains a tenuous argument for the existence of God. It is certainly not strong evidence for the truth of Christianity.

The Argument

The classical ontological argument, proposed by St. Anselm of Canterbury in 1078 CE in his work "Proslogion," attempts to prove God's existence through reasoning alone.

  1. God is defined as a being than which no greater can be conceived.
  2. The idea of God exists in the mind.
  3. A being that exists in reality is greater than a being that exists only in the mind.
  4. Therefore, God must exist in reality.

The Rebuttal

Conceivability does not prove existence.
  1. We can conceive of things that may or may not exist in reality.
  2. We can conceive of God.
  3. Therefore, God may or may not exist in reality.
Existence is not a predicate.
  1. Existence is not a property that can be attributed to things, for they must exist to have any properties.
  2. Therefore, existence is not a property that can be attributed to God.
Parody Arguments:
  1. If the ontological argument is valid, it should work for any "perfect" concept.
  2. The argument fails when applied to other "perfect" concepts (e.g., perfect islands, perfect pizzas).
  3. Therefore, the logic of the ontological argument is flawed.
"The ontological argument fails because it treats existence as a predicate, which it is not. Existence is not a property that can be attributed to things, but rather a precondition for the instantiation of properties."

Immanuel Kant, paraphrased from "Critique of Pure Reason" (1781)