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The Ontological Argument for the Existence of God
December 12, 2015 at 1:37 pm
I have never seen this argument before, so I'm interested in some discussion of it. A philosopher by the name of Alvin Plantinga states it this way:
The Ontological Argument
- It is possible that a maximally great being exists.
- If it is possible that a maximally great being exists, then a maximally great being exists is some possible world.
- If a maximally great being exists in some possible world, then it exists in every possible world.
- If a maximally great being exists in every possible world, then it exists in the actual world.
- If a maximally great being exists in the actual world, then a maximally great being exists.
- Therefore, a maximally great being exists.
Thoughts?
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RE: The Ontological Argument for the Existence of God
December 12, 2015 at 1:39 pm
Um. Non sequitur much? Like, very much??
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RE: The Ontological Argument for the Existence of God
December 12, 2015 at 1:45 pm
I don't see how most of these steps follow. What is maximally great supposed to mean anyhow.
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RE: The Ontological Argument for the Existence of God
December 12, 2015 at 1:49 pm
"It is possible that a maximally great being exists."
No.
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RE: The Ontological Argument for the Existence of God
December 12, 2015 at 1:49 pm
How do we know it's possible for a maximally great being to exist in reality? The way Plantinga defines such an entity is too vague to make any clear conclusion out of it.
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RE: The Ontological Argument for the Existence of God
December 12, 2015 at 1:52 pm
(December 12, 2015 at 1:37 pm)athrock Wrote: I have never seen this argument before, so I'm interested in some discussion of it. A philosopher by the name of Alvin Plantinga states it this way:
The Ontological Argument
- It is possible that a maximally great being exists.
- If it is possible that a maximally great being exists, then a maximally great being exists is some possible world.
- If a maximally great being exists in some possible world, then it exists in every possible world.
- If a maximally great being exists in every possible world, then it exists in the actual world.
- If a maximally great being exists in the actual world, then a maximally great being exists.
- Therefore, a maximally great being exists.
Thoughts?
What do you mean by maximally great being? the man with the cutest arse, best breathe and is nice to animals? there probably is a nicest man in the world but there is certainly no evidence for magic men, so no this falls at the first hurdle as an argument for god.
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RE: The Ontological Argument for the Existence of God
December 12, 2015 at 2:04 pm
A. Define 'maximally great'.
B. Explain why/how 3 follows from 2 and how 3 follows from 4.
C. Have an ontologist explain why the argument works for God, but not for TikTok from the Oz books.
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RE: The Ontological Argument for the Existence of God
December 12, 2015 at 2:06 pm
(This post was last modified: December 12, 2015 at 2:09 pm by Jenny A.)
It is possible that a maximumlly great being cannot exist.
Therefore, it is possible that a maximumlly great being cannot exist in any actual world
If a maximumlly great being cannot exist in any actual world, then it cannot exist in this world.
Therefore, it is possible a maximumlly great being does not exist.
Unsubstantiated premises are fun. 
If there is a god, I want to believe that there is a god. If there is not a god, I want to believe that there is no god.
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RE: The Ontological Argument for the Existence of God
December 12, 2015 at 2:08 pm
If you can imagine something existing, it must actually exist somewhere? That would imply all gods exist, not to mention all manner of other creatures that people have imagined. That's kind of silly.
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RE: The Ontological Argument for the Existence of God
December 12, 2015 at 2:16 pm
(This post was last modified: December 12, 2015 at 2:22 pm by The Grand Nudger.)
Here we go again......
You posit existence as an attribute of this "maximally great" being in your premise 1. Is there any need to argue existence in when you assume it in the premise, and all further steps flow from that assumption, however poorly?
Nope.
Now, will you be demonstrating the veracity of any of these premises..or abandoning them like you abandoned your last argument, as soon as it had left your lips?
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