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Arguments for the Existence of God

Gaunilo, Kant and Assessing the Ontological Argument

  • 2 things to know
  • Component 1

Overview

Recall questions on Gaunilo's perfect island and a defender's reply, Kant's claim that existence adds nothing to a concept, and the strengths and weaknesses of the argument beside the design and cosmological arguments.

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Key term

How might a defender of Anselm respond to Gaunilo's perfect island objection?

Key term

What was Kant's main criticism of the ontological argument?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    What analogy did Gaunilo use to criticise Anselm's ontological argument?

    Model answer

    The analogy of the perfect island: if Anselm's reasoning were valid, we could prove the existence of a perfect island by the same logic.

  2. 2

    What does Gaunilo's criticism suggest about the scope of Anselm's argument?

    Model answer

    It suggests that Anselm's argument proves too much, as the same form of reasoning could be used to prove the existence of any perfect thing we can conceive.

  3. 3

    How might a defender of Anselm respond to Gaunilo's perfect island objection?

    Model answer

    Islands are contingent beings with no intrinsic maximum of perfection, whereas God is a necessary being whose perfection is unlimited, making the analogy invalid.

  4. 4

    What was Kant's main criticism of the ontological argument?

    Model answer

    Kant argued that existence is not a predicate, it is not a property or perfection that can be added to a concept.

  5. 5

    What example did Kant use to illustrate that existence adds nothing to a concept?

    Model answer

    A hundred real thalers contain no more than a hundred possible thalers, saying something exists adds nothing to the concept of that thing.

  6. 6

    How does Kant's criticism undermine Anselm's premise about existence in reality?

    Model answer

    If existence is not a predicate, it cannot make something greater, which undermines Anselm's claim that existence in reality is greater than existence in the understanding.

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