Anselm Ontological Argument Essay Research Paper Anselm

Anselm Ontological Argument Essay, Research Paper

Anselm s ontological argument is an explanation that Anselm came up with to prove that God exists. He uses a step by step procedure to persuade you into believing that since we canpicture and think of God as the greatest being, then he must exist. In the beginning of hisdiscussion , Anselm asks what is it that we mean when we speak of God. The first thing I thinkof when I speak of God is the creator of earth, the superior being. Anselm also believes that whenwe speak of God we are speaking of the most supreme being. God is said to be greatestimaginable being, not just the greatest being that happens to be around, but the greatest thinkablebeing. Anselm states that God is a being which none greater can be thought and a being thanwhich nothing greater can be conceived. (23) Anselm continues through his discussion byquestioning the difference between what exists in the mind and what exists in the mind andoutside of the mind as well. One of the questions that is asked is, Is it better to exist the mindalone or in the mind and in reality. In my opinion, that is a really easy question to answer but forsome reason Anselm feels it is necessary to go into detail. He uses the example of a painter whoportrays a work of art in his mind. So which is better? The piece of art he has created in his mindor the finished product that is within his mind as well as in reality. I hope that everyone willcome to the conclusion it is the painting in reality and the mind that is greater. Anselm believedthat since God was a being which nothing greater can be conceived, and since it is greater to existin the mind and in reality, then God must exist both in the mind and in reality. To sum it up,Anselm believed that God must be. A monk named Gaunilo believed there was something wrong with this argument. Howdoes thinking about something guarantee that it exists in reality? Gaunilo believed that if theargument were any good, he could setup similar arguments proving the existence of all sorts ofthings. For example, it seemed to him that if Anselms argument worked, then he ought to be ableto prove the existence of perfect island in exactly the same way. Paul Kurtz criticizes Anselm s ontological argument by stating It is surprising that somany philosophers and theologians have been convinced by this argument, for its speciouscharacter is readily evident. (37) He believes that just because you have this concept of God inyour mind doesn t mean God exist, it just shows that you were taught to believe that. And whatabout these people who don t have a concept of God, does that mean there is no God? To me thisis a one sided argument and doesn t give you much of a basis to believe any other than whatAnselm is pointing out to you. But considering Plato s discussion with Theaetus, it overridesKurtz and my opinion. It was Theaetus who stated that perception is knowledge, but soon foundout that he was entirely wrong from Plato. Plato believed that making judgments wasknowledge. To me Anselms ontological argument was a judgment made by himself to shareknowledge of what he believed with everyone else. I can t say if it was a true of a false judgment,for that can only be found from experience of being deceased.2. Thomas Jefferson was principle author of the Declaration of Independence and thirdpresident of the United States. As Jefferson applied reason to the field of religion, he concludedthat evidence of design in nature is so obvious and extensive that there must be a cosmicdesigner. (30) Thomas Jefferson s design argument doesn t prove the existence of Godconceived as a supremely perfect being because it can t be proven. There can always be anargument that asks how can God be supremely perfect when there is war, sickness, murder, etc. Jefferson does try to persuade you to have no doubt that God is supremely perfect by blaming all

the faults with the world on man, not God. In his eyes God created a beautiful place and wishedfor it to stay that way, it was man who corrupted everything. He believed that life was just toexquisite and angelic for the world just to exist. The way he speaks of earth makes you see theway he sees. Just to sit back and think of everything here that exists, it all fits perfectly together. Listening to this passage is what satisfies me the most. The movements of the heavenly bodies,so exactly held in their course by the balance of centrifugal and centripetal forces; the structure ofour earth itself, with its distribution of lands, waters and atmosphere; animals and vegetablesbodies, examined in all their minutest particles; insects, mere atoms of life, yet as perfectlyorganized as man or mammoth; the mineral substances, their generation and uses; it is impossible,I say, for the human mind not to believe, that the is in all this, design, cause and effect, up to anultimate cause, a fabricator of all things from matter and motion, their preserver and regulatorwhile permitted to exist in their present forms, and their regenerator into new and otherforms. (31-32) I think that I can somewhat believe Jefferson s opinion. Earth had to be createdsomehow, and since there must be a beginning to everything why not come to conclusion thatGod was the beginning. In Kurtz criticism of the design argument it seems to me that he is more focusedon the title that God is given. The main point he stressed was how is God all good and allpowerful? If God is all good, the