Ontological Arguments

Ontological arguments claim that...

• ... we can induce God's existence from natural phenomena.

• ...we can deduce God's existence from the concept of "God".

• ...we can deduce God's existence from considering causation and contingent existence.

Who claimed that God is, "that than which nothing greater can be conceived."?

• Aquinas

• Anselm

• Malcolm

Why does Anselm reject the assertion, "God does not exist."?

• God must exist in order to be the greatest conceivable being.

• You can't think of anything that doesn't exist.

• Existence is contingent.

What is the basic argument put forward by Gaunilo?

• God is a contingent being.

• Perfect islands are contingent.

• Something doesn't have to exist just because it's conceivable.

According to Descartes, what entails God's existence?

• The fact that we can conceive of "God".

• The contradictory nature of "God doesn't exist."

• God's perfect attributes, e.g. the omnis.

Applying Hume's fork suggests that "God exists," is...

• a synthetic statement.

• a relation of ideas.

• an analytic truth.

What does Kant mean when he says that existence isn't a predicate?

• Existence isn't a distinctive property of an object.

• Existence isn't a component of deductive arguments.

• Existence is contingent.

What does Malcom say makes "God exists," an analytic truth?

• The concept of God isn't self-contradictory.

• God can't not exist.

• "Exists" refers to necessary existence.

What do Anselm and Malcom fail to do?

• Define "God".

• Prove that God actually exists.

• Respond to Kant coherently.