Ontological Argument
Argument based on reason, ‘a priori’ rather than ‘a posteriori’
- An ‘a priori’ is not argument based on sense experience which are
based on things we can observe ‘out there’ in the world
It is known to be independent of experience.
Attempts to prove God’s existence through the meaning of the
word ‘God’
, St Anselm: Background
• Proslogium (1077-1078) Prayer
• 11th century Christian monk, Archbishop of Canterbury
• ‘Faith seeking understanding’
• Have faith first before you look ‘out there’ in the world
• Addresses to everyone; everyone can be persuaded that God exists
and essentially that is the aim of the argument he puts forward.
• Reason alone before sensory experience/ evidence
Argument based on reason, ‘a priori’ rather than ‘a posteriori’
- An ‘a priori’ is not argument based on sense experience which are
based on things we can observe ‘out there’ in the world
It is known to be independent of experience.
Attempts to prove God’s existence through the meaning of the
word ‘God’
, St Anselm: Background
• Proslogium (1077-1078) Prayer
• 11th century Christian monk, Archbishop of Canterbury
• ‘Faith seeking understanding’
• Have faith first before you look ‘out there’ in the world
• Addresses to everyone; everyone can be persuaded that God exists
and essentially that is the aim of the argument he puts forward.
• Reason alone before sensory experience/ evidence
