Sign Up Now
Get instant access to over 1 million+ study documents
OR
Already registered? click here to login
By creating your account, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and student honor code.
Anselm argumentation is known as the a priori proof for the existence of God or the ontological argument. In his work "Proslogion," chapters 2 and 3, "That God Really Exists" and "That God Cannot be Thought Not to Exist," are the key to the entire Anselmian philosophy on the existence of God. He uses a reduction ad absurdum argumentation to prove God's existence.
Indeed, he starts from the concept of "a being than which no greater can be conceived"
In his work, he says, referring to God, that we believe He is "something greater than which cannot be thought"
Further more, this something greater than can be conceived may exist in someone's thought, but, on the other hand, it cannot exist only in one's thought, but also in reality ("certainly that greater than which cannot be understood cannot exist only in thought, for if it exists only in thought it could also be thought of as existing in reality as well, which is greater"
). The final contradiction is that something greater can actually be conceived which contradicts our initial supposition...
This proves that God exists not only in one's thought, but also in reality.
The a posteriori argument that Aquinas aims to present is somewhat different in the sense that God's existence is attempted to be proven by the existence of a causality between some of the consequences we see in real life and the Cause that has produced them.
We have, for example, the argument of from motion. We notice in the nature that objects move (in the 13th century, when Aquinas wrote, it was most likely that they moved from natural sources rather than artificially). As something is moved, it is physically necessary for something to move it from the outside. At the same time, there must be an initial first mover that is not moved and which we may identify with the Supreme Force or God: "it is necessary to arrive at a first mover, put in motion by no other; and this everyone understands…
Bibliography
1. St. Thomas Aquinas. The Summa Theologica. (Benziger Bros. edition, 1947)Translated by Fathers of the English Dominican Province. On the Internet at http://www.ccel.org/a/aquinas/summa/FP/FP002.html#FPQ2A3THEP1
2. Ontological Argument. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. On the Internet at http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ontological-arguments/
3. Anselm. Proslogion. Chapter 2. On the Internet at http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/anselm.html
Ontological Argument. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. On the Internet at http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ontological-arguments/
Anselm. Proslogion. Chapter 2. On the Internet at http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/anselm.html
St. Thomas Aquinas. The Summa Theologica. (Benziger Bros. edition, 1947)Translated by Fathers of the English Dominican Province. On the Internet at http://www.ccel.org/a/aquinas/summa/FP/FP002.html#FPQ2A3THEP1
Aquinas argues that the fact that man can perceive himself to be true serves as a validation for God's existence; however this is dissimilar to Descartes impressions of the Mediator who, according to the philosopher, is capable of mistaking that which is certain and uncertain. It is important to remember to distinguish fact from fiction; will from intellect. In this presentation I believe that Aquinas and Anselm intermingled the two,
Thus, Sam argues that although the world often seems unjust (and is filled with innumerable instances of evil), yet P. is solved through the belief that every condition (good, in this case) necessitates an equal and opposite condition (evil, as it were.) However, Gretchen counters by asking whether those who behave in an evil way are ever punished for their transgressions, and whether there is any motivation for people to
It is feasible, perhaps, that someone could hold the principle that he should always act rationally but also believe that this rationality should act towards maximizing their individual base pleasures. Clearly, this could be carried out at the expense of other rational beings. This would violate Kant's universal laws of morality because it would reject the elevated nature of humanity in general. At the same time, if this person
God Exist? The Case for God's Existence Anselm Thomas Aquinas Other Arguments The Case Against the Existence of God My Assessment Many people go to churches, mosques, and synagogs each week to worship God and to pray. But does God hear those prayers? Does he exist? The debate over God's existence has gone on for centuries and is alive and well in our time. Philosophers, theologians, scientists, and ordinary people have weighed in on the argument.
If something happens, then it is a belief that somebody caused that thing to happen the way it did, and it is an effect of some kind of action. If then several actions take place one after the other, then the earlier/older happening caused the later event thus, "the first cause is the cause of all things and itself had no cause since it always existed." (Trigilio, and Brighenti
Existence of God The philosophical questions I will try to answer and why they are of particular interest to me. Opinions that ordinary people tend to have on the issue The great monotheistic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam profoundly influenced Western philosophy. In all of these religions, the existence of God is a central claim. For nearly a millennium from 500 S.D to about 1500 A.D., Western philosophy was the handmaiden