The Ontological Argument

2021 ◽  
pp. 337-363
Author(s):  
Ian Proops
Keyword(s):  
Ontological Argument ◽  
Rational Argument ◽  
Ad Hominem

This chapter argues that Kant’s criticism of the ontological argument is targeted, in the first instance, at Leibniz’s sympathetic revamping of the Cartesian argument. But Kant’s discussion actually contains a suite of objections to the ontological argument, some of them effective against Descartes, others (less successfully) directed against Wolff and Baumgarten, and one—the famous objection that being is not a real predicate—directed exclusively against Leibniz. It argues that this last objection, which appeals to the example of a hundred thalers, succeeds against Leibniz because he is prevented by his stance on the Euthyphro contrast from offering the obvious reply. Kant’s most famous objection is thus an ‘ad hominem’ argument in the original (and now largely forgotten) sense of that term: a perfectly rational argument that does not attack an opponent’s character, but rather uses one of their own commitments against them.

The Axiological Theism of A. E. Taylor

Philosophy ◽  
1952 ◽  
Vol 27 (101) ◽  
pp. 110-124
Author(s):  
Charles F. Sawhill Virtue
Keyword(s):  
Ontological Argument ◽  
Existence Of God ◽  
Rational Argument

If a rational argument is to be advanced for the existence of God, it must be some form of the cosmological, depending on the concept of causation, or the ontological, an elaboration of the concept of being. The metaphysical fertility of the axiological approach to theism consists in its reformulation of the ontological argument—viz., that the nature of existent reality itself is indicative of supra natural being.

Waiting for Godo… and Godan: Completing Rowe’s Critique of the Ontological Argument

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-86
Author(s):  
Roslyn Weiss
Keyword(s):  
Ontological Argument ◽  
William Rowe

In his critique of Anselm’s ontological argument for God’s existence, William Rowe introduces the concepts of “magico” and “magican”—defining “magicos” as magicians that do not exist, and “magicans” as magicians that do exist—to help diagnose what may have gone wrong in Anselm’s argument. As I made my way through Rowe’s intriguing article, I found myself waiting for “Godo”—and for “Godan.” I expected Rowe to invoke these counterparts to his “magico” and “magican”—a non-existing God to correspond to his non-existing magician, and an existing God to correspond to his existing magician—to complete his argument. Alas, like Vladimir and Estragon, I waited in vain: neither Godo—nor Godan—ever appeared. In what follows I shall argue that their inclusion in Rowe’s argument would have settled the matter against Anselm far more decisively than do Rowe’s forays into the murky waters of question-begging.

The Use of the ad hominem Argument in the Works of Isaeus

2011 ◽  
Vol 80 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-51
Author(s):  
Rosalia Hatzilambrou
Keyword(s):  
Ad Hominem

Radical Change and Rational Argument

Ethics ◽  
1976 ◽  
Vol 87 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-74
Author(s):  
Joseph Beatty
Keyword(s):  
Radical Change ◽  
Rational Argument

Mill as Sage: The Essay on Bentham

PMLA ◽  
1974 ◽  
Vol 89 (1) ◽  
pp. 142-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eugene R. August
Keyword(s):  
John Stuart Mill ◽  
Great Promise ◽  
Rational Argument ◽  
Clear Cut

Although regarded as a philosopher rather than an artist, John Stuart Mill employs artistry as well as rational argument to enlighten his reader. Mill's “Bentham,” for example, demonstrates how Mill operates as a sage using both logic and art to awaken the reader to a new perception of reality. In “Bentham” Mill creates a sense of disappointment arising from Bentham's great promise and limited performance, both as thinker and as man. Constructing an image of himself as a whole thinker, Mill thereby underscores Bentham's position as half-thinker. Mill also creates an elaborate portrait of Bentham as a great father-teacher-hero-God figure, only to reveal Bentham's inability to perform these roles adequately. By heavy use of negatives, Mill suggests that Bentham's thought has little positive value. And, finally, the essay's structure undermines all of Bentham's philosophical contributions. Deriving from Carlyle's “Boswell's Life of Johnson,” Mill's earlier writings on Bentham show him refashioning Carlyle's language and developing the ironic techniques used in “Bentham.” Like other Victorian sages, Mill has no clear-cut theory of prose artistry; he often regards poetry and prose as antithetical media. Nevertheless, in practice he writes as a complex logician-artist, using prose as an imaginative medium.

Anselm's Formula and the Logic of ‘God’

1973 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 279-288
Author(s):  
Paul M. van Buren
Keyword(s):  
Ontological Argument ◽  
Turn On ◽  
The Difference

Anselm built his meditation Proslogion on the formula ‘that than which nothing greater can be conceived’. The peculiarity of this phrase has been often remarked but not, I believe, fully appreciated. Properly understood, I shall argue, this formula, although unable to support the so-called ontological argument, throws important light on the logic of the religious use of the word ‘God’. My argument will turn on the difference between the two uses of the verb ‘conceive’ in Anselm's claim that we can conceive of that than which nothing greater can be conceived.

FACTS, NOT OPINIONS, DRIVE SCIENCE: A REPLY TO MORRISON

2006 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 155-156
Author(s):  
PAUL CAMERON
Keyword(s):  
Gay Men ◽  
Lesbian Women ◽  
Ad Hominem

Accuracy is the most important aspect of empiricism. If investigators are clear about their method and employ it to generate ‘facts,’ their opinions are irrelevant. So it is of some significance that Morrison, who spends more than one-third of his paper attacking my motives — indeed accusing me of ‘hatred of gay men and lesbian women’ — does not dispute my findings. Strip away the ad hominem attacks and little remains.

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