#philosophy as

[ghostydorkfanclub]

I'm doing philosophy work and my head hurts

[phxlosophy]

[phxlosophy]

The Ontological Argument - Kant

Kant argues that if you don't have a "triangle" at all then you don't need its attributes.

He says it's okay to dismiss the subject and predicate together, because the predicate should enhance the subject (e.g. purple is purple or x is boring)

Furthermore, the existence is not a predicate - it is not a "quality of something"as you do not enhance the description of something by that it exists - for example if you were to describe someone, would you describe them as existing?

It is perfectly possible to imagine something that is perfect, but does not exist. Descartes is trying to turn an analytic statement (a quality of God) into a synthetic one (about his existence).

Basically, he separated the concepts of "the nature of something", e.g. God, and something's existence, and said that one did not influence each other. A predicate must give us information about something and "its exists" does not.

He uses the example of £100 in your wallet - you can describe and imagine it but you cannot jump from the description of it to saying it exists, when you actually are skint. 

[phxlosophy]

The Ontological Argument explained!

[phxlosophy]

God is that than which nothing greater can be conceived of.

Anselm - the Ontological Argument 

[phxlosophy]

The Ontological Argument - Anselm

The Argument is based on the definition of God

Anselm, the founder of the argument, had previously concluded in Monologian that God was "that than which nothing greater can be concieved from." His argument relies upon this assumption.

He said that an atheist understands this concept, even if he does not believe in the existence of God.

But he said that it must be greater to exist in reality than to exist in mind alone.

So for God, to be the greatest being, his existence must be necessary

In a later argument, he also states that (by similar logic) something "can;t be thought of as not existing" is greater than something that can.

HENCE, GOD EXISTS. 

[phxlosophy]

“Candidates will need to have a good understand of the main proofs for God’s existence and their criticisms. It is important that candidates make the effort to read some of the proofs in their original form: Brian Davies: Philosophy of Religion: An Anthology and Guide, or the anthologies by Paul Helm, or that by Taliaferro and Griffiths. Kant’s Moral Argument is an area where candidates often get bogged down in describing his moral ethics rather than explaining the Moral Argument. It is important while they are studying this section that they keep in mind where he is going with his description of an innate moral awareness. Candidates will need to be able to offer a critique of this argument using the psychological views of Freud. Candidates will need therefore to be able to demonstrate knowledge of Freud’s challenges to religion and religious belief.”

The Arguments of God's Existence - Examiner's Expectation