The Ontological Argument
Overview
This is a module designed to help you understand the Ontological Argument and its creator St. Anselm of Canterbury.
The Ontological Argument
OER Report: The Ontological Argument
Getting your bearings
Prior to one of your first readings for this course, it is important to know your stance on what you believe “God” to be. As for myself, I grew up in a very non-religious household, and because of that the only perception I had of God was that he is believed to have created the universe and everything that is living in it. This was a hard statement for me to believe, but after reading about the Ontological Argument, my perspective was changed. In the text “God” is defined in 4 different ways.
- God of Scripture and Tradition
- We know of this God in all the different Bibles and scriptures. This was the God that I was never able to understand since I didn’t grow up religious.
- God of the Philosophers
- In this definition, God is meant to be an absolutely perfect being. This is part of the Ontological Argument.
- God as first cause; God as a designer
- This definition puts God in a supernatural position. Calling to attention that the universe owes its existence to this power that existed before anything else did.
- God as a transcendent source of “meaning”
- On this conception, to say that God exists is to affirm the existence of a being whose existence somehow manages to give meaning, purpose, directions, or limits to human life—a being that, by its very nature, merits devotion or obedience or even love.
Before delving into the ontological argument, it is important to have a basic understanding of some philosophical concepts and terminology. Here are some key concepts that can help in understanding the ontological argument:
- Ontology: Ontology is the branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of existence or being. It is concerned with questions like, "What exists?" and "What is the nature of existence?"
- Metaphysics: Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy that deals with the fundamental nature of reality, including the relationship between mind and matter, between substance and attribute, and between cause and effect.
- Deductive reasoning: Deductive reasoning is a type of reasoning that starts with general principles and uses them to derive specific conclusions. It is based on the idea that if the premises are true, then the conclusion must be true.
- Modal logic: Modal logic is a branch of logic that deals with modalities such as possibility, necessity, and contingency. It provides a framework for reasoning about propositions that are true or false under different possible circumstances.
- God: In the context of the ontological argument, "God" refers to a perfect being who is all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-good.
A basic understanding of these concepts can help understand the ontological argument, which is a complex philosophical argument that uses deductive reasoning and modal logic to prove the existence of God.
Biography
St. Anselm of Canterbury, (born 1033/34) Aosta, Lombardy (Italy) died April 21, 1109, possibly Canterbury, Kent, England; feast day April 21), Italian-born theologian and philosopher, known as the father of Scholasticism, a philosophical school of thought that dominated the Middle Ages. He was recognized in modern times as the originator of the ontological argument for the existence of God (based on the idea of an absolutely perfect being, the fact of the idea being in itself a demonstration of existence) and the satisfaction theory of atonement or redemption (based on the feudal theory of making satisfaction or recompense according to the status of a person against whom an offense has been committed, the infinite God being the offended party and humanity the offender). There is incomplete evidence that he was canonized in 1163, though some scholars contend that he was canonized by Pope Alexander in 1494. In 1057 Anselm left Aosta to enter the Benedictine monastery at Bec. He wanted to study under the monastery’s renowned prior, Lanfranc. While on his way to Bec, he learned that Lanfranc was in Rome, so he spent some time at Lyon, Cluny, and Avranches before entering the monastery in 1060. In 1060 or 1061 he took his monastic vows. Because of Anselm’s reputation for great intellectual ability, he was elected prior of the monastery after Lanfranc became abbot of Caen in 1063. In 1078 he became abbot of Bec.
In the previous year (1077), Anselm had written the Monologion (“Monologue”) at the request of some of his fellow monks. A theological “treatise”, the Monologion was both apologetic and religious in intent. It attempted to demonstrate the existence and attributes of God by an appeal to reason alone rather than by the customary appeal to authorities favored by earlier medieval thinkers. Moving from an analysis of the inequalities of various aspects of perfection, such as justice, wisdom, and power, Anselm argued for an absolute norm that is everywhere at all times, above both time and space, a norm that can be comprehended by the human mind. Anselm asserted that that norm is God, the absolute, ultimate, and integrating standard of perfection.
Existing
For this reading, it is also important for you to understand the different ways of existing according to Anselm. This first way of existing is in understanding. This refers to topics, ideas, people, etc. all existing to your understanding. If you can think of it, then it will exist in your understanding even though it may not be in your reality. This is the second way of existing (in reality), this means that you are able to touch it, see it, smell it, etc. An example used in the textbook is when Anselm references a painter. “When a painter, for example, thinks out in advance what he is going to paint, he has it in his understanding, but he does not yet understand that it exists, since he has not yet painted it. But once he has painted it, he both has it in his understanding and understands that it exists because he has now painted it.” (Anselm.8)
This is a key point when thinking about the Ontological Argument. For an atheist who says “There is no God.” it is easy for him to say that because he does not believe in the God that has been spoken of in certain religions (God as a Designer). But he does understand what someone is saying if they were to tell him “Something that which nothing greater can be thought.” Although this form of God may not exist in the atheist’s reality, it surely exists in his understanding.
Understanding the Ontological Argument
The ontological argument is a philosophical argument for the existence of God, which was first proposed by the 11th-century philosopher and theologian, St. Anselm of Canterbury. The argument is based on the concept of God as a being than which nothing greater can be conceived.
The argument can be summarized as follows:
- God is defined as a being than which nothing greater can be conceived.
- If God exists only in the mind, then we can conceive of a greater being - one that exists both in the mind and in reality.
- Therefore, if we conceive of God as existing only in the mind, then we can conceive of a being greater than God, which is a contradiction.
- Therefore, God must exist not only in the mind but in reality as well, because a being than which nothing greater can be conceived cannot be conceived not to exist.
The argument relies on the concept of necessary existence, which means that if something exists necessarily, then it must exist in all possible worlds. According to the argument, if we conceive of God as a being of which nothing greater can be conceived, then God must exist necessarily, because if God did not exist necessarily, then we could conceive of a greater being - one that exists necessarily.
Critics of the ontological argument have pointed out that the argument relies heavily on the definition of God as a being than which nothing greater can be conceived, which some argue is a subjective and arbitrary definition. Additionally, the argument has been criticized for relying on a purely a priori method of reasoning, which some argue is insufficient to prove God's existence.