Analyze the distinctive features of the Ontological Argument
Analyze the distinctive features of the Ontological Argument for the existence of God (18)Discuss the view that the Ontological Argument is obviously incorrect as an argument (12) The Ontological Argument is an a priori argument which attempts to prove God’s existence. Ontology literally means ‘concerned with being’. It is also a reduction ad absurdum argument which shows that the existence of God could not be denied because to do so would involve adopting a nonsensical argument. This deductive type of argument attempts to show that the very being or concept of God implies his existence in reality.The Ontological Argument is one of five classical arguments for the existence of God. It moves from a definition of God as being “that than which nothing greater can be conceived” to a proof of God, using a priori logic. It was formulated primarily by St. Anselm (1033-1109), but remains a relevant philosophical discussion today.The argument states that firstly, nothing greater than God can be conceived and secondly, it is greater to exist than not to exist. Thirdly states that if we conceive of God as not existing, then we can conceive of something greater than God (God existing) and fourthly that to conceive of God as not existing is not to conceive of God. Fifthly states that it is inconceivable that God doesn’t exist and lastly therefore God exists. Anselm set out to show that not believing in God is an absurd position to hold. . It is better to exist in the mind and in reality than to just exist in the mind .Existence is a predicate of perfection. Therefore God must exist in reality. “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God’” (Psalm 14) despite accepting the argument – if you understand the definition of God, you can’t deny that God exists.Anselm stated that even an atheist must have a definition of God because even the suggestion that God does not exist requires the concept of God. It seemed logical to conclude that to argue that there is no God, even the fool must understand the concept of God. Since the greatest thought