LECTURE 14

WHY IS THERE ANYTHING AT ALL?

THE ONTOLOGICAL ARGUMENT

A METAPHYSICAL QUESTION

Q: “WHY IS THERE ANYTHING AT ALL, RATHER THAN NOTHING?”

(1) EMPTY SPACE IS SOMETHING (NOT NOTHING)

(2) A QUANTUM VACUUM IS SOMETHING (NOT NOTHING).

St. Anselm’s Ontological Argument

Benedict Spinoza(1632-1677)

Rene Descartes(1596-1650)

Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz (1646-1716)

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel(1770-1831)

Charles Hartshorne(1897-2000)

Kurt Gödel(1906-1978)

Alvin Plantinga(b. 1932)

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ST. ANSELM’S ONTOLOGICAL ARGUMENT Definition: God =df That Being greater than which cannot be conceived. (1) God exists in the understanding

but not in reality. [Assumption for reductio]

(2) A being otherwise like God but

existing also in reality is conceivable. [Premise]

(3) Existence in reality and in the

understanding is greater than existence in the understanding alone. [Premise]

(4) A being greater than God is

conceivable. [(1), (2), (3)] (5) It is possible to conceive of a

being greater than that Being greater than which cannot be conceived. [(4), Definition]

But (5) is a contradiction. Therefore, Assumption (1) is false. But: (6) God exists in the understanding.

[Premise] \ (7) God exists in reality.

God does not exist in reality but does exist in

the understanding. Therefore:

We can conceive of a being, GOD, otherwise

like God but existing also in reality So, GOD would be greater than God CONTRADICTION !!

SOME BAD OBJECTIONS TO ST. ANSELM’S ONTOLOGICAL

ARGUMENT

1. “That’s silly. You’re just playing with words.”

2. “You can’t prove the

actual existence of something just using a definition.”

3. “Existence in reality

is not greater than existence in the understanding alone. Who’s to say what’s greater than what?”

SOME BAD OBJECTIONS TO ST. ANSELM’S ONTOLOGICAL ARGUMENT

4. “The argument contradicts

itself. First it assumes that God doesn’t exist in reality and then it concludes that He does exist in reality.”

5. “You can’t compare things that

exist with things that don’t exist.”

6. “We can’t understand God. So

He doesn’t even exist in our understanding.”

7. “Existence is not a predicate.”

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Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)

Existence is not a

predicate!

DESCARTES’ VERSION

A PERFECT BEING HAS ALL PERFECTIONS.EXISTENCE IS A PERFECTION. A PERFECT BEING HAS EXISTENCE. A PERFECT BEING EXISTSANSWER TO THE QUESTION: Q: “WHY IS THERE ANYTHING AT ALL?”A: “THE STATEMENT THAT THERE IS NOTHING AT ALL

IS CONTRADICTORY. THERE HAS TO BE PERFECT BEING.”

THIS VERSION EITHER BEGS THE QUESTION OR IS INVALID BECAUSE

OF AN EQUIVOCATIONBEGGING THE QUESTION: AN ARGUMENT (OR

ARGUER) COMMITS THE FALLACY OF BEGGING THE QUESTION IF ONE OF THE PREMISES OF THE ARGUMENT COULD NOT BE KNOWN (OR REASONABLY BELIEVED) WITHOUT ALREADY KNOWING (OR BELIEVING) THE CONCLUSION.

EQUIVOCATION

AN ARGUMENT (OR ARGUER) COMMITS THE FALLACY OF EQUIVOCATION IF THERE IS A SINGLE TERM OR PHRASE THAT IS USED WITH TWO DIFFERENT MEANINGS SO THAT THE ARGUMENT IS INVALID [AND IF WE TRY TO ASSSIGN THE SAME MEANING FOR BOTH TERMS THE ARGUMENT FAILS TO BE COGENT].

“A PERFECT BEING”

COMPARE:(1) A SCOUT IS LOYAL.(2) A HOMELESS PERSON ASKED ME FOR

MONEY.THE PHRASE “A SCOUT” DOES NOT IMPLY THAT

THERE IS A SCOUT (LOYAL OR NOT).THE PHRASE “A HOMELESS PERSON” IMPLIES

THAT THERE EXISTS A HOMELESS PERSON (HE ASKED ME FOR MONEY)