The Ontological Argument: God Exists by Definition
Jane Orton- Mar 24
- 5 min read
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In our last post, we looked at the cosmological argument for the existence of God. In this post, discover the ontological argument for the existence of God!
Ontological arguments are a priori (can be known independent of any experience other than language) arguments for the existence of God, as opposed to a posteriori (based on experience).
St. Anselm and Gaunilo
Eleventh-century monk and theologian St. Anselm of Canterbury argued that God is the greatest possible being; it is in the very nature of God that he essentially (and necessarily) possess all possible perfections. Necessary existence is a perfection, so God must possess it. Therefore, God cannot be conceived not to exist.
Anselm was refuted by another eleventh-century monk, Gaunilo, who replied that if we imagine an island greater than which none can be conceived, we could make the same argument.
However, Anselm responds that this is not a valid objection because the existence of an island is contingent (it depends on something else for its existence), whereas God is supremely necessary. Moreover the perfect island is indefinable, whereas God is essentially (and thus necessarily) omniscient, omnipotent, and maximally good.
The Ontological Argument in the Renaissance
In the Renaissance, René Descartes added to the ontological argument. In his Fifth Meditation, Descartes argued that there is no less contradiction in conceiving a supremely perfect being who lacks existence than there is in conceiving a triangle whose interior angles do not sum to 180 degrees. Thus, since we do conceive of a supremely perfect being, a supremely perfect being must exist.
Philosopher and polymath Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz also added to the ontological argument. Leibniz said that Descartes’ arguments fail unless one first shows that the idea of a supremely perfect being is coherent. However, since perfections are unanalysable, it is impossible to demonstrate that perfections are incompatible – so a perfect being can exist.
The Ontological Argument in the Enlightenment
Enlightenment philosopher Immanuel Kant argued that ontological arguments are impaired by the implicit assumption that “existence” is a predicate (the part of the sentence that describes the subject of the sentence). In fact, existence adds absolutely nothing to the concept of the thing. Moreover, Kant points out that it would not be a contradiction (if existence were a predicate) to say, “if God existed, then his existence would be necessary.”
German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer had no patience with the Ontological argument, calling it “a most beloved piece of nonsense”! Schopenhauer argued that Descartes’ definition of God conceals within it the assumption that he necessarily exists, so it is a circular argument: “That is, at any opportunity, someone contrives a concept assembled out of all sorts of predicates, taking care, however, that among these, either plainly and nakedly, or, as is more decorous, wrapped up in another predicate, e.g., ‘perfection’, ‘immensity’, or something of the sort, there is also a predicate of reality or of existence.”
The Ontological Argument in the Twentieth Century and Beyond
In his 1960 paper “Anselm’s Ontological Arguments,” Norman Malcolm examines Anselm’s ontological proofs for God’s existence, revising and defending the second.
Malcolm argues that one of the following must be true: (i) God’s existence is necessarily false (ii) God’s existence is contingently false (iii) God’s existence is contingently true or (iv) God’s existence is necessarily true. According to Malcolm, (ii) and (iii) cannot apply to a being like God as he is unlimited, independent and eternal. As for (i), there is nothing logically contradictory about the claim “God exists,” so this cannot be the case either; this leaves only (iv).
This is a modal (concerning possibility) argument that posits that, although existence is not a perfection, necessary existence, is a perfection – and thus a property! Click the link for a good summary of Malcolm’s argument.
Alvin Plantinga’s version of the ontological argument uses the property of maximal greatness and the property of maximal excellence. According to Plantinga, a being is maximally excellent in a world W if and only if it is omnipotent, omniscient, and morally perfect in W; a being is maximally great in a world W if and only if it is maximally excellent in every possible world. Thus, maximal greatness entails existence in every possible world: since a being that is maximally great at W is omnipotent at every possible world and non-existent beings can’t be omnipotent, it follows that a maximally great being exists in every logically possible world.
The great twentieth century philosopher Bertrand Russell agreed with many criticisms of the ontological argument. Russell argued that existence is not a predicate: “some cows exist” is an odd sentence as there are no non-existent cows. However, as Russell points out, it is much easier to be persuaded that ontological arguments are no good than it is to say exactly what is wrong with them!
Click the links to read our previous posts on the Teleological Argument and the Cosmological Argument for the existence of God!
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