On Ontology: Anselm
Ontology is the branch of metaphysics concerned with the nature of being, in this case the existence of God.
Saint Anselm of Canterbury had a famous argument on this topic. He claimed that God is “something than which nothing greater can be conceived,” and his argument continues as follows:
- Something that can be conceived exists in understanding.
- Something that exists in reality is greater than that which exists in understanding alone.
- Something that can’t be conceived not to exist is greater than one which can be conceived not to exist.
- Therefore, God exists necessarily and it is impossible to conceive otherwise.
I think the problem here is that the argument begs the question. In defining God as the greatest of all beings it is already assumed that God exists. This may be clearer if I put it in terms of omnipotence.
Nothing can be more powerful than something that is all-powerful, and if something has the power to exist, then an all-powerful being must have infinite power to exist. We could define and concieve of a being who has an infinite capacity for existence. By Anselm’s reasoning, any such being would necessarily exist.
It makes me wonder how someone would go about arguing for or against the existence of such a being without making any assumptions about it’s existence or capacity to exist in the first place.
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