(January 8, 2024 at 11:24 pm)Astreja Wrote:(January 8, 2024 at 9:32 pm)JJoseph Wrote: So here's my own version of the Ontological Argument, borrowed indeed from St. Anselm, and Alvin Plantinga, who's been dubbed "St. Al", at least partly for his work on this subject, though more broadly for his general philosophical expertise; and also, slightly moving beyond them. Time will tell if the argument succeeds. Now, without further ado, here it is.
1. God is Conceived as the One Necessarily Existent Being.
2. Now, if a Being can be conceived as existing necessarily, it possibly exists. (since conceivability entails possibility).
3. Next, if a Necessary Being possibly exists, it exists in every possible world. (by nature of Necessary Existence).
4. Then, if a Necessary Being exists in every possible world, it exists in the actual world. (since the actual world is one of many possible worlds).
5. Therefore, God exists in the actual world. Or, more simply, Therefore, God exists.
The universe doesn't have to be here. Nothing has to be here. Therefore, the concept of a "necessary being" is unnecessary.
And even if there were a necessary entity, why would it have to be sentient?
Fair Argument, Astreja. But if I recall, Saint Thomas Aquinas answered it like this. Paraphrasing and adapting the archaic language of the Angelic Doctor slightly for our times: "If nothing ever existed, then even now nothing would exist, because nothing produces nothing. But this is impossible because it is absurd. Therefore, it is not true that nothing ever existed. Therefore, we cannot but arrive at the existence of Something - or Someone - that exists Necessarily. And this all men speak of as God", etc. Adapted/modified it a little, but that's the gist of the Thomistic Argument from Contingency and Necessity. St. Thomas, recall, was not convinced by St. Anselm's Ontological Argument, at least not in the form in which it was presented then. I think Plantinga's argument might have had a better reception in medieval universities, and perhaps mine too, lol. But let's see. Time will tell. I really don't think Atheism has any future, sorry. It's just about people realizing the arguments for Theism are sound and more reasonable than those for Atheism, and when they begin to see again Religion has value and makes life meaningful, they'll come back to God/Jesus. Jesus Christ is a Friend in need, and a Friend indeed. He is to all men and all women the Friend they want, and He gives them everything, if they but open their hearts to Him. He, even more than Saint Paul, could say in Truth: "I made Myself all things to all men/all women". Dawkins, Hitchens et al have nothing to offer in comparison. All they can offer, as they themselves say, "you'll die, you'll stink, you'll rot. The end". Lol, nope.
