Ontological arguments for the existence of god, first discovered by st. Some, most notably alvin plantinga, have even judged kants dictum to be totally irrelevant to anselms version of the ontological argument. We shall confine our attention to one of the arguments that can, with some plausibility, be extracted from chapter ii of the proslogionnot the only one, but the one i take to be both sim plest and soundest. Ao1 a examine the ontological argument for the existence. The comments made by alvin plantinga on a version of the ontological argument. Plantinga joshua rasmussen forthcoming in ontological arguments, ed. I have to say, i think several of the objections presented against the ontological argument basically miss the mark. He begins with a premise he thinks can be plausible to someone a priori. Guminski examines the modal ontological argument based upon possible worlds semantics expounded by alvin plantinga and further developed and defended by william lane craig. In what follows, i shall be concerned with some of the comments made by alvin plantinga on a version of the ontological argument for the existence of god in chapters two and three of his workgod and other minds cornell. Graham oppy oup plantinga constructs an ontological argument using twentieth century developments in modality.
Malcolms argument has been controversial, however, and charles hartshorne has produced a formal, refined version of it see sobel, logic and theism. Revision outline for the ontological argument ao1 a examine the ontological argument for the existence of god. Maydole ontological arguments are deductive arguments for the existence of god from general metaphysical principles and other assumptions about the nature or essence of god. I shall dispute plantingas contention that his argument can be used to show that belief in god is not con. Alvin plantinga challenged this argument and proposed an alternative, based on modal logic. It moves through logical stages to reach a conclusion. Anselms ontological argument for the existence of god anselms argument is an a priori argument. The second part of the book is plantinga s presentation of the ontological argument for the existence of god.
Thus, keeping the ontological argument alive for 900 years. On plantinga s ontological argument by darrin at 1172009 one of the most curious arguments for the existence of god has been presented by st. The relevance of kants objection to anselms ontological. It furthers the universitys objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. Professor malcolm believes that in anselms proslogion and.
His modal version of the argument is in some ways more refined than the classic version of st. In chapter 10 of his book, the nature of necessity,1 alvin plantinga con tends that. This book so small that you can fit it in your back pocket. As is typically done, we might think of a possible world as a complete way that things might have been.
In this paper i argue, against plantinga and others, that kants claim is indeed relevant to anselms argument. God, freedom, and evil kindle edition by plantinga. No philosophical argument for the existence of god, can be initiated with a definition of god, because god is not within human experience. Anselm, but i find it even more obviously tautological. Plantinga, hartshorne, and the ontological argument. An ontological argument is a philosophical argument for the existence of god that uses. Pdf plantinga, hartshorne, and the ontological argument. Alvin plantinga famously defends a version of the ontological argument that makes use of the notion of possible worlds. In the actual world i am writing up this blog post. A critique of the plantinga version of the modal ontological argument 2016 by arnold t. Anselm, plantinga and the ontological argument springerlink. Yet many people seem to have a hard time understanding it.
Kants refutation of the ontological argument, though i believe that. Plantinga and taylor did a fine job compiling parts of famous philosophical works that reflect the ontological argument, both for and against it. Perhaps one might resolve to use the label ontological argument for any argument which gets classified as an ontological argument by its proponents. More specifically, ontological arguments tend to start with a priori theory about the organization of the universe. Plantingas ontological argument persuasive because recursion of definition of maximal greatness and modal axiom of transworld impossibility skip to main content skip to main menu skip to breadcrumbs exploring a rational approach to knowledge and life. Many arguments fall under the category of the ontological, but they tend to involve arguments about the state of being or existing.
Here, plantinga is it seems to me far less persuasive. Pdf a critique of the plantinga version of the modal. Plantinga and the ontological argument springerlink. Kane and others published the modal ontological argument find. An analysis of plantingas response to the ontological. Alvin plantinga has produced an original and important study of the ontological argument. In this paper i examine the modal ontological argument based upon possible worlds semantics expounded by alvin plantinga pmoa, and as further developed and defended by william lane craig.
The ontological argument peter millican any argument which attempts to prove gods existence a priori based only on his nature can be termed an ontological argument. Leibnizs ontological proof of the existence of god and the problem of. Historically, however, the term is inextricably associated with the famous argument presented in anselms proslogion chapter ii, and with. Plantinga basically uses a possible world analysis. His father, cornelius, was then a philosophy graduate student at the university of michigan. Anselms ontological argument for the existence of god. Plantinga has expressed a modal logic version of the ontological argument in which he uses modal logic to develop, in a more rigorous and formal way, norman malcolms and charles hartshornes modal ontological arguments. Reassessing plantingas ontological argument for god. Plantinga developed his modal version of the ontological argument for the existence. For, in my judgment, there is no presentation of the ontological argument that is as carefully developed, forceful, and clear as plantinga s formulation and discussion of the argument on 3 ibid. Ontological arguments for the existence of god alvin plantinga the ontological argument simplified lynne rudder baker and gareth b.
More specifically, ontological arguments tend to start with an a priori theory about the organization of the universe. Ontological arguments stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. I shall, in the course of this paper, talk of the instantiation of properties in particular ways or forms on particular occasions. The ontological argument kenneth einar himma modal versions of the ontological argument william rowe. The existence of an unbeatable sorcerer is not only false, it is necessarily false. An ontological argument is a philosophical argument for the existence of god that uses ontology. The ontological argument for the existence of god has enjoyed a recent renaissance. Oxford university press is a department of the university of oxford. Consequently, the modal ontological argument is a logical argument, but not an ontological argument in the sense of having any existential relevance. If that organizational structure is true, the argument will provide reasons. Contemporary defenders of the ontological argument include alvin plantinga, william alston and william lane craig. Contemporary philosophers such as charles hartshorne, norman malcolm, and alvin plantinga, have utilized modal logic to develop new versions of the on tological argument. The form of the argument is that of a reductio ad absurdum argument. Here, plantinga attempted to use the philosophical concept of possible worlds to show the necessary nature of gods existence.
Plantingas defence of the ontological argument mind. Leibnizs ontological proof of the existence of god and. In this paper, my goal is to lay out the contours of plantinga s. The argument from natural numbers1 tyron goldschmidt 1. Obrien professor of philosophy emeritus at notre dame university i give two arguments against materialism.
This procedure would make good sense if one thought that there is a natural kind ontological arguments which our practice carves out, but for which is hard to specify defining. Ontological argument ontology study of being anselms first version if, therefore, that than which greater cannot be thought exists in thought alone, then that than which greater cannot be thought turns out to be that than which something greater actually can be thought, but that is. Attempts have also been made to validate anselms proof using an automated theorem prover. Plantingas defence of the ontological argument oxford academic. Formulation of the argument the ontological argument notoriously comes in countless ver sions. Alvin plantingas modal ontologicals argument is a irrefutable logical argument for the existence of god. How saint thomas solved the kantian problem article pdf available in religious studies 3101. Many arguments fall under the category of the ontological, and they tend to involve arguments about the state of being or existing.
Plantinga s ontological argument alvin plantinga famously defends a version of the ontological argument that makes use of the notion of possible worlds. Kants refutation of the ontological argument, though i believe that his criticism is mistaken. Plantingas modal ontological argument includes many of the aspects of anselms original argument but includes various additions and changes. In part a i set forth the definitions and premises of the. What was particularly intetesting was seeing alvin plantinga s rebuttal of the argument he would later come to support, although only after tweaking it which i think has really transormed it and is the most convincing form of it that ive ever read. William lane craig considers alvin plantinga s version of the ontological argument as having the best chance of being cogent wlc 2004, p. Plantinga s treatment is marked by an intriguing turn in god and other minds 12 he examines a number of variants of the argument and concludes that they arc one and all unsuccessful. Introduction the preface to alvin plantingas two dozen or so theistic arguments warns that as the arguments are set out there they arent really good arguments. Original german text available online, 628 kb pdf file, maintained by alain. Ontological arguments are arguments, for the conclusion that god exists, from premises.
Plantinga developed his modal version of the ontological argument for the existence of god in his two controversial books, the nature of necessity 1974. Ontological argument project gutenberg selfpublishing. Norman malcolm revived the ontological argument in 1960 when he located a second, stronger ontological argument in anselms work. Is the modal ontological argument for god a sound proof. If that organizational structure is true, the argument will provide reasons why god must exist.
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