The ontological argument
THE ONTOLOGICAL ARGUMENT
Page 1 of 7
, The ontological argument
The ontological argument scholarly quotes –
Anselm – “I am not seeking to understand in order to believe, but I believe in order to
understand”
Anselm – “I believe that I may understand”
Anslem – characrerises God as “something than which nothing greater can be thought”
Psalm (the Bible) – “fools say in their heart, ‘there is no God’”
Anselm – “why then, did the fool say in their heart ‘God is not’, since it is so obvious to the
ra onal mind that you exist supremely above all things”
Anselm – “existence imposes itself on my thoughts – rather than my thoughts imposing
existence on God”
Plan nga – “the idea of a greatest possible island os an inconsistent, or incoherent idea; it is
not posssible that there be such a thing”
Anselm – “God us that no greater can be conceived”
Kant – “existence isn’t a predicate”
Descartes – “I think therefore I am”
Descartes – “the necessity if the existence of God determined mr to think this way”
Descartes – “the mind cannot conceive of perfec on without also conceiving existence”
Hume – “the idea of existence, then, is the very same with thre idea of what we conceive to
be existent”
Davis – “defini ons by themselves do not guarantee that there is anything corresponding to
them”
Dawkins – “Kant iden fied the trick card up Anselms sleeve as his slippery assump on that
‘existence’ is more perfect than ‘non-existence’”
Malcom – “Gods existence is either impossible or necessary”
Malcom – “ a pixie is a li le man with pointed ears” analogy
Malcom – “I can imagine an atheist going through the ontological argument, becoming
convinced of its validity, ac vely defending it against its objec ons, and yet s ll remaining an
atheist”
Page 2 of 7
THE ONTOLOGICAL ARGUMENT
Page 1 of 7
, The ontological argument
The ontological argument scholarly quotes –
Anselm – “I am not seeking to understand in order to believe, but I believe in order to
understand”
Anselm – “I believe that I may understand”
Anslem – characrerises God as “something than which nothing greater can be thought”
Psalm (the Bible) – “fools say in their heart, ‘there is no God’”
Anselm – “why then, did the fool say in their heart ‘God is not’, since it is so obvious to the
ra onal mind that you exist supremely above all things”
Anselm – “existence imposes itself on my thoughts – rather than my thoughts imposing
existence on God”
Plan nga – “the idea of a greatest possible island os an inconsistent, or incoherent idea; it is
not posssible that there be such a thing”
Anselm – “God us that no greater can be conceived”
Kant – “existence isn’t a predicate”
Descartes – “I think therefore I am”
Descartes – “the necessity if the existence of God determined mr to think this way”
Descartes – “the mind cannot conceive of perfec on without also conceiving existence”
Hume – “the idea of existence, then, is the very same with thre idea of what we conceive to
be existent”
Davis – “defini ons by themselves do not guarantee that there is anything corresponding to
them”
Dawkins – “Kant iden fied the trick card up Anselms sleeve as his slippery assump on that
‘existence’ is more perfect than ‘non-existence’”
Malcom – “Gods existence is either impossible or necessary”
Malcom – “ a pixie is a li le man with pointed ears” analogy
Malcom – “I can imagine an atheist going through the ontological argument, becoming
convinced of its validity, ac vely defending it against its objec ons, and yet s ll remaining an
atheist”
Page 2 of 7
