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Arguments from reason - Coggle Diagram
Arguments from reason
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Anselm Form 1
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Overcoming: Plantinga
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If something has no intrinsic maximum, there cannot be a greatest version of it
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If something makes you greater, then it is a quality
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Weakness: Gaunilo
Gaunilo supports Kant's idea that existence is not a predicate with the use of perceptions / understanding
He gives the analogy of gossip - if you heard gossip about a man that you did not know, you would build a perception of that man in your mind
If you were then told that the man doesn't exist, your understanding of him would not change
Likewise, our understanding of God's qualities does not change, whether or not he exists
So existence of God is not a quality, and thus is not a predicate
Overcoming: Form 2
In contrast, the perfect island is contingent and relies on external forces and existence is not part of the definition - fails as an example
Only a necessary being can be 'that than which nothing greater can be conceived, as necessary existence is greater than contingent
existence
God's existence is ontologically necessary - non existence is impossible and he exists independently
If God is the greatest being I can think of, then he must have necessary existence, and if necessary existence is part of the definition of God, then God must exist
Anselm Form 2
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Weakness: Kant
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For example, if you were asked to describe the qualities of a pen, you would describe its colour, its size, but not that it exists
As you don't mention existence along with its qualities, then existence cannot be a quality
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If something makes you greater, then it is a quality
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Overcoming: Malcolm
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For example, if you were asked to describe the qualities of God, you would say that He is omnibenevolent, omniscient, and also that He doesn't rely on anything else to exist
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