Anselm s Argument On The Existence Of God - 934 Words

The existence of God is a question everyone asks himself or herself at one point or another. It is always being questioned. In many ways God can be proven to exist by logical arguments and many of these arguments can be disproved by a similar logic. The most compelling of the proofs that I have read is Anselm’s Ontological Argument. This argument in many ways has goods points about the conceptuality of truth, ideas, thought and how that translates to reality, but is written by someone who already believes in God. It can clearly be seen that Anselm is working from an already established belief and needs support of Aquinas’s five ways to strengthen his argument. Anselm says that God cannot be thought not to exist. This may be because as people grow into adulthood, they are taught that God exist, even a non-believer has considered the existence of God. God is so pure and so true that an idea of a something that created everything could not not exist. What does something so true mean? Anselm says, â€Å"So that than which a greater can not be thought exists so truly that it cannot be thought not to exist.† Anselm is referring to God in the same way that Aquinas refers to God in his fourth reason, gradation. Aquinas says, â€Å"Among beings there are some more and some less good†¦. therefore there must also be something which is to all beings the cause of their being, goodness, and every other perfection; and this we call God.† He refers to the gradation of things. Some of us have moreShow MoreRelatedKant And Anselm : Argument For God s Existence1142 Words   |  5 PagesYourFirstName YourLastName†¨Instructor s Nameâ₠¬ ¨Course Title†¨21 November 2016 Any Topic (Writer s Choice) Kant and Anselm: The Argument for God’s Existence Philosophers have for long debated on the existence of a Supreme all powerful and all perfect God, Kant, and Anselm being among them. Where Anselm has supported the presence of God and all the attributes that regard to the Him, Kant has risen up with a counter argument. The interaction between the two, the philosophical objection raised by KantRead MoreKant And Anselm : Argument For God s Existence1129 Words   |  5 PagesKant and Anselm: The Argument for God’s Existence Philosophers have for long debated on the existence of a Supreme all powerful and all perfect God, Kant, and Anselm being among them. Where Anselm has supported the presence of God and all the attributes that regard to the Him, Kant has risen up with a counter argument. The interaction between the two, the philosophical objection raised by Kant, and what this means to the rest of mankind will be analyzed in this paper. To begin with, Anselm introducesRead MoreAnselm s Ontological Argument On The Existence Of God935 Words   |  4 PagesAnselm’s Ontological argument sets out to not only prove God’s existence, but to show that God’s existence is self-evident. Similar to other ontological arguments, it uses a priori knowledge to argue its validity, meaning that the propositions made are derived from internal reasoning instead of sense experience. The argument begins with Anselm defining the term God as â€Å"that, than which nothing greater can be conceived† (pg.26). Although simple, once this term is accepted Anselm believes he has successfullyRead MoreValidity And Effectiveness Of Anselm s Ontological Argument On The Existence Of God1095 Words   |  5 Pagesexamining the validity and effectiveness of Anselm s Ontological Argument on the existence of God. I will begin by presenting Anselm’s Ontological Argument from the ground up. This includes the argument, basic idea, initial assumptions, Anselm’s definition of god, and Anselm s distinctions which are needed to completely understand the nature of my argument. Furthermore, I will present concepts of logic and define what makes an argument valid, and circular argument because they are necessary for understandingRead MoreAnshelm ¬Ã‚ ¥s Proof of God ¬Ã‚ ¥s Existence1466 Words   |  6 PagesThe question about the existence of God or, more generally speaking, of a supernatural entity that steers the course of the world, is probably as old as humanity itself. Many great philosophers were concerned with this basic and yet so important question which remains to be a controversial issue to this day! In the following I will commit myself to the above-mentioned question by firstly reconstructing Anselm ´s proof of God ´s existence and secondly considering his position in the light of the critiqueRead MoreOntological Argument For The Existence Of God1083 Words   |  5 Pagesdiscuss the argument of Anselms ontological argument for the existence of god. His basis of his argument being an analytical breakdown for the reason fot gods exsistence. While also establishing that Anselms inferences found with his use of deduction and logical means to prove the existence of a higher being are indeed true. In addition I will defend Anselms argument by depicting other people’s objections against his argument. Specifically the argume nt made by Gaunilo, who disagreed with Anselms argumentRead MoreThe First Chapter Of Anselm s Argument961 Words   |  4 Pages The first chapter of Anselm s Monologian focuses on Anselm s argument that there is something that is the best, the greatest, the highest, of all existing things. It is through this unknown something that all things possess their goodness. According to the argument he puts forth, the goodness of things in this world must be caused and must therefore stem from one thing that is good, or from many. If goods can be comparable as goods, it follows that there must be some general and unified way ofRead MoreEssay about Anselms Ontological Argument680 Words   |  3 Pagesphilosopher, Saint Anselm strove to prove the existence of God in reality. The bulk of his argument is found in Chapter II of Proslogium. Anselm begins by defining God as amp;#8220;a being than which nothing greater can be conceived;. He continues by stating that amp;#8220;even a fool; has the capacity to understand this definition of God and that whatever is understood exists in the understanding. Anselm now draws his first intermediate inference based on these initial premises; God must exist inRead MoreFaith Seeking Understanding1021 Words   |  5 PagesFaith Seeking Understanding - St. Anselm The most striking theme in Anselms Proslogion, or faith seeking understanding, is the idea that in order to prove Gods existence one must first have faith in Him, and only then will one be able to truly understand and appreciate Gods existence. Anselm argues for this eloquently, I do not seek to understand that I may believe, but I believe in order to understand. For this also I believe, that unless I believed, I should not understand (Ch.1 Proslogion)Read MoreThe Existence Of God : Ontological Argument Essay1696 Words   |  7 PagesThe question of the existence of God has troubled mankind for thousands of years. Many philosophers and theologians have always searched for prove whether God exists. Many of them constructed valid arguments which support theist believes. The existence of God was once never denied, as His presence, His existence was evident in miracles and the people s faith. But time and the advancement of modern science have called God and His very nature into ques tion. The Perfect Being has become the source