This is one of the most interesting – and fun to disagree with – arguments for the existence of God.
Ontological Arguments state that God is defined as perfect. That it’s more perfect to exist than not to exist. Therefore, God must exist, by definition.
The first person to coin the design argument was the Philosopher, Theologian and politically controversial Archbishop of Canterbury, Anselm.
St Anselm
Anselm of Canterbury was a Benedictine monk and archbishop who lived in the 11th century. He is widely known as the father of scholasticism and is considered one of the most important Christian thinkers of the medieval period.
The Ontological Argument developed by Anselm is a philosophical attempt to prove the existence of God.
It starts with defining God as the greatest imaginable being. According to Anselm’s argument, if we can conceive of such a being, then its existence is necessary as existence is an integral part of what it means to be the greatest conceivable entity.
Anselm argues that even the one who denies the existence of God must have a clear conception of what they are denying. Therefore, even the atheist must agree that God is, by definition, the greatest imaginable being. So, you cannot be an atheist consistently, because you must deny a being that by definition exists.
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In many ways, the Ontological Argument is simple to understand. Here it is in syllogistic form:
Fundamentally, there are two ideas you need to accept for the Ontological Argument to succeed. They are:
- God is defined as perfect
- It is greater to exist than to not exist
Let’s go through why Anselm believes in each of these claims.
God is defined as perfect
First thing to know: This is not a claim about the world. It is not a knowledge claim.
It is just a definition.
The way we judge definitions is whether they are internally consistent or not. For instance, the definition of a unicorn as “a white horse with a single horn and magically powers” is internally consistent, and therefore acceptable.
Whereas, the definition of a triangle as “a three sided-shape with four corners” is internally inconsistent, and therefore not acceptable.
Anselm’s definition of God is “That than which nothing greater can be conceived”. In other words, he’s the greatest thing that can be thought of without internal inconsistencies. See what he’s done there?
The definition of God is internally consistent.
It is greater to exist than to not exist
Anselm’s claim here is not an aesthetic one, or a value one. He’s not saying it’s nicer to exist.
It’s a much simpler claim than that.
It’s an Ontological claim (hence the name of the argument). “Ontological” means “being”.
The claim is simply that there is more stuff when something exists. Specifically, there is more “being” when something exists than when it doesn’t.
Conclusion
Anselm then says that, because God must have all great-making qualities, and it’s greater to exist than not to exist, God must exist. By this method, he believes he’s proved the existence of God.
Want to learn more about the Ontological Argument?
We have a whole series on this included in the Cogito Membership package!
