1. A Priori Arguments for God’s Existence
Chapter 27
A Priori Arguments for God’s Existence

2. Reason and Religion
Two things commend our attention to arguments for God’s existence:
Rather than to evidence for God’s existence from religious experience
Arguments are public
The religious heritage of the West has always given an important place to reason
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3. The Ontological Argument
Anselm constructs an argument for God’s existence based on an analysis of:
The concept of God, or we could say on an ontological analysis of the concept of God
What do we mean when we use the term God?
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4. St. Anselm: Proslogion
Anselm was a believer, but he sought a single argument for God’s existence that:
Would not depend upon sacred scripture or upon the faith commitments of the believer
Chapter II
Chapter III
Chapter IV
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5. The Ontological Argument in Recent Thought
In the formulations of the ontological argument by both Descartes and Anselm:
The assumption is made that existence is a perfection
Assume that existence is a quality that adds something to the concept of a thing
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6. Existence is Not a Quality
Existence is not a perfection (or a quality or real predicate) that can be added to a:
Concept to change the concept in any way
All existence statements are a posteriori and synthetic
Ontological argument attempts to argue for God’s existence completely a priori
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7. The Ontological Argument’s Ongoing Relevance
The ontological argument is still debated by respectable philosophers
The difference between two forms of the argument centers on:
The kind of existence attributed to God
The existence of a being
God as existing necessarily
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8. Contingent and Necessary Existence
The possibility of its non-existence
Contingent Existence
Non-existence is possible; dependent; not a quality of perfection
Necessary Existence
Non-existence is impossible; independent; is a perfection
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9. Spinoza and the Inexplicability of God’s Non-existence
Baruch Spinoza believed that the ultimate nature of reality could be known on the:
Basis of concepts & principles neither derived from nor grounded in sensory experience
Explanations for a thing’s non-existence
Neither external/internal reasons could possibly explain God’s non-existence
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10. The Coherence of the Idea of an Infinitely Perfect Being
Spinoza’s argument on this point might be thought guilty of begging the question
Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz
Showing that the idea of God was not similarly inconsistent was crucial to the success of:
A priori attempts to prove God’s existence
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