Was the Ontological Argument?

James H. Sterling
James H. Sterling
• • 7 min read

Ontological Argument, Argument That Proceeds from the Idea of God to the Reality of God. It Was First Clearly Formulated by St. Anselm in His Proslogion...

Was the Ontological Argument?

Ontological argument, Argument that proceeds from the idea of God to the reality of God. It was first clearly formulated by St. Anselm in his Proslogion (1077–78); a later famous version is given by René Descartes

René Descartes
Descartes spent the period 1619 to 1628 traveling in northern and southern Europe, where, as he later explained, he studied “the book of the world.” While in Bohemia in 1619, he invented analytic geometry, a method of solving geometric problems algebraically and algebraic problems geometrically.
. Anselm began with the concept of God as that than which nothing greater can be conceived.

What was the purpose of the ontological argument?

As an “a priori” argument, the Ontological Argument tries to “prove” the existence of God by establishing the necessity of God's existence through an explanation of the concept of existence or necessary being . Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury first set forth the Ontological Argument in the eleventh century.

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What is the ontological argument simple?

The ontological argument is an idea in religious philosophy. ... The idea is that existing makes a good thing better than one that's only imaginary. So the perfect thing we're imagining must exist. Then we call the perfect thing God.

James H. Sterling

James H. Sterling

Environmental Science & Climate Journalist
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James Sterling reports on renewable energy developments, climate policy, ecological conservation, and green tech innovations around the globe.