Anselm's Ontological Argument

Anselm's Ontological Argument, from Proslogion II. @PhiloofAlexandria

[Robert-pzwg]

Hope you’re staying safe during the plague. The library seems like a good place to hide out for a while.

[samjon]

Thank you so much: a very helpful explanation, particularly in your reminder that the context of the o. argument is a prayer. Still, is it right to say A. that St Anselm’s does not ultimately prove the existence of God and B. that he does disprove the atheist? Wouldn’t B in the end entail A? (I.e., if it s not the case that there is no God, then it must be the case that there is a God.)

[LomuHabana]

An atheist would say, Existence is not a predicate, I don’t have to think of god existing because existing is always something in in relation to a domain. It isn’t something essential to the object itself. Existence is more something that operates on essential properties.
So no, you don’t have to conceive of god/mgb to exist. For existence doesn’t change his essence.

[LeoniYUG]

Thomas, the so called saint of Aquinas, made on it clearer points in the Summa Contra Gentiles… he clarified what is persona, what is natura… he reached a deeper comprehension on the topic than Anselm, the saint of Aosta…

[JAYDUBYAH]

Anselm is French for “begs the question.”

[Captain-Cosmo]

It is a possible that in the far and distant future a sufficiently advanced civilization discovered the true nature of the universe and traveled back in time to create the universe. No god required.

[jamesrodgers]

At the 16:40 mark, you said "witches do not exist". In what respect can you make such a knowledge claim as we have many people today that think themselves a witch. The Bible references witches as well, not the least being the witch of Endor and the demon possessed girl in Acts 16 who could tell the future.

[aion]

I've only studied political philosophy so I'm a bit out of my depth here. Would it be possible to come from a different perspective, in that, it isn't so much that God exists but thinking exists? That doesn't disprove God's existence. Urg! I'm going to stick to Heidegger in that God is outside of space and time so is unknowable.

[JAYDUBYAH]

In order for this to be the most circular argument it must exist; for otherwise a more circular argument that really exists would be more circular by really existing. Circularly. In order... otherwise you’re a fool! But the atheist is in fact saying that the very concept of a god is both definable (even if as undefinable) and unintelligible.

[misterlyle.]

I believe God does exist, but do not find Anselm's "proof" convincing.

[cpolychreona]

A "huge advance"? Really ? One more example of confusion between philosophy and the history of philosophy . This stuff should be relegated to the Department of History in the University and taught as one chapter in the history of human civilization. Instead, it constitutes >90% of what passes as "philosophy" in the academic establishment (admittedly, some of it not quite as navel-gazing as Anselm's). Bonevac, do you really believe that this stuff has any relevance whatsoever to how humanity should be thinking in the 21st-century?

[mattbrook-lee]

The argument fails from the get go. It's not actually possible to conceive of a maximally great being. The moment you think about a maximally great being you just need to think of something that could beat it in an arm wrestle. Hey presto you were not thinking of a maximally great being. The human mind cannot actually conceive an ultimate being