Philosophy

Questions tagged [ontological-argument]

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Variation of Ontological argument

what do you think of this variation of the ontological argument(is it an absolute proof?) 1)God is the greatest being conceivable. A key part of this is being all powerful(omnipotent) 2)God can be ...
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1answer
584 views

Which of Descartes’ arguments for the existence of God is the most successful and why?

With regards to his 3rd Meditation and 5th Meditation proofs of God, I can't seem to find any reason to see one as being more successful than the other. Mainly because while his ontological proof ...
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2answers
86 views

How many equivalence classes does the accessiblity relation have in S5?

I'm a math student taking philosophy classes. So I have some math background but am absolutely unfamiliar with metaphysics&c. Recently I've come around the "Nothing Is Impossible" paper as a part ...
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3answers
596 views

Debunking Anselm Ontological Argument

In a nutshell, the Anselm Ontological Argument states that given a God defined as "a being than which none greater can be imagined" it follows that this God must exist. It seems to me that this ...
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1answer
448 views

Why do scholars not consider Avicenna's “proof of the truthful” to be the first ontological argument?

Scholars seem to believe that Anselm's Proslogion lays down the first ontological argument, at least in the West. I also understand that there is a debate whether Avicenna's "proof of the truthful" ...
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2answers
175 views

What is the explanation for inferring existence in every possible world from existence in some in Plantinga's Ontological Argument?

I found the following version of the Ontological Argument online (I'm pretty certain its Plantinga's but I couldn't find an exact source). Here is how it goes: It is possible that a maximally great ...
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3answers
459 views

Anselm's Ontological argument for the existence of God. Am I getting it right?

Is Anselm's decisive point for the existence of God the fact that in order for a thing (idea , etc) which exists in the 'realm of understanding' to be paramount (supreme) it has to exist in reality as ...
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1answer
596 views

What arguments are there for the existence of a personal God?

Classical arguments for God's existence, like ontological, cosmological, teleological, etc., only derive the existence of something very abstract, greatest entity, first cause, etc., which is then "...
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6answers
792 views

Does this modal ontological argument prove the existence of God?

What are some objections to this form of the argument? It seems like the only premise that can be disputed is premise 1, but nobody has successfully disproven the possibility of a maximally great ...
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1answer
390 views

Existence as a predicate and Godel's ontological argument

I am referring to this paper https://github.com/FormalTheology/GoedelGod/blob/master/GodProof-ND.pdf which has formalized the ontological argument. If I am not mistaken, watered down, the argument ...
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2answers
251 views

Does Gaunilo's objection to the ontological argument itself presuppose God's existence?

The classical ontological argument for gods existence proposed by Anselm of Canterbury can be summed up as God is the greatest possible being that can be imagined If that being existed in reality it ...
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3answers
348 views

What are some examples of the implications of changing epistemological and ontological grounds of the research?

What are some examples of the variation in the answers of the same question among different researchers, that can be explained by the variation of epistemological and ontological grounds of their ...
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2answers
241 views

Would the ontological argument disprove the Christian god?

The ontological argument of Descartes tries to show that a supremely perfect being (=god) must logically exist. Let's assume that this logic were valid. We would have proven that a "perfect" god ...
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1answer
175 views

Possible ambiguity in Anselm's argument, and Kant's criticism

This is a follow-up to Could Anselm's argument also "prove" that a perfectly evil god must exist?, and also to Why is existence not a true predicate with respect to Anselm's ...
2
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1answer
170 views

What makes Leibniz's definition of perfection unintelligible?

Leibniz defined a perfection as a simple, positive quality in the highest degree. Norman Malcolm says I do not find his definition of a perfection intelligible. For one thing, it assumes that ...
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2answers
219 views

“Does god exist?” Is this question correct? [duplicate]

Before going into the topic first let me clarify what I will refer to as "god" in this passage. God, I think should be referred to as something that is analogous to the axioms of a formal system. ...
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2answers
107 views

Should the Ontological Argument be called something else than 'Ontological'?

Source: p 120 Middle, Introducing Philosophy for Canadians: A Text with Integrated Readings (2011 1 ed).   Here, we will begin by discussing the Ontological Argument. This is the most difficult of ...
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6answers
13k views

What does Kant mean by “Existence is not a predicate”?

What does Kant mean by "Existence is not a predicate"? How does that invalidate the ontological arguments? and how can he show that it's not a predicate? By predicate, I think he means a "property"...
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316 views

A Critcism of the Ontological Argument for God

Allow me to present the argument: (1) By definition God is that being which possesses every perfection. (2) Existence is a perfection. (3) Therefore, God exists. Whether you agree is not important,...
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1answer
426 views

'If we can conceive God existing but he doesn't exist, then we can conceive a thing greater than him.'

Source: 6 minutes 50 seconds juncture; Lecture 2, Video 5 (transcription); MITx: 24.00x Introduction to Philosophy; by MIT Associate Prof Caspar Hare PhD (in Philosophy; Princeton) There are some ...
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1answer
395 views

Is there a suppressed premise in Anselm's Ontological Argument?

Source: 5 minutes 20 seconds juncture; Lecture 1, Video 4 (transcription); MITx: 24.00x Introduction to Philosophy; by MIT Associate Prof Caspar Hare PhD (Princeton) [...] Suppose God existed in ...
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7answers
390 views

Why is the 'problem of evil' considered so difficult?

If one believes in the 'supernatural' and some Supreme Being affecting our lives in various ways; if you believe we have free will and free choice and this Being allows us to have and use this 'free ...
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4answers
312 views

An Argument for the Unity of Truth?

I was thinking about truth, and came up with an outline for an argument that there is only one truth. However, this is just an outline and it is flawed, so I'm hoping you can help me critique and fix ...
2
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1answer
145 views

About Godel and Anselm

Was Godel's work on trying to make Anselm's Ontological Argument more 'feasible' with modal logic successful or has this work just been lost in the many abstract debates that confuse the issues?
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3answers
213 views

Can definition be existence (in mathematics)?

The set omega, as the comment in this question points out, can be defined as the smallest set that is closed under succession and includes the empty set. This is enough to define it uniquely, but to ...
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1answer
571 views

Is the proof for the God's existence of Harvey Friedman correct?

Recently, the Prof. Harvey Friedman published a paper in which he proves the existence of God starting from the consistency of the mathematics. Does someone know if this proof has been refuted or it ...
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4answers
1k views

What is the argument in this Paragraph

What is the argument in this Paragraph (Aquinas's Five Ways): The fifth way is taken from the governance of the world. We see that things which lack intelligence, such as natural bodies, act for an ...
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3answers
995 views

How do I go from ◊∃x□[∃y(y=x) ∧ Mx] to ∃x□[∃y(y=x) ∧ Mx]?

I've been thinking about the ontological argument recently. I'm trying to go from ◊∃x□[∃y(y=x) ∧ Mx] to ∃x□[∃y(y=x) ∧ Mx] I choose that formulation because that seems to express x having the ...
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4answers
961 views

How can being able to conceive of something “perfect” imply its existence?

In this question and reading about the ontological argument elsewhere I have discovered that there is (and has been) a lot of discussion about it, and that it was taken very seriously. Can someone ...
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3answers
214 views

Are there any ontological arguments outside the canon of Western philosophy/scholastic theology?

The question pretty much explains itself. I'm interested in instances of ontological arguments (arguments purporting to prove the existence of God/Gods/a God) outside the Western tradition and/or ...