The Ontological Argument
Suppose that the greatest conceivable being (GCB) exists in the mind alone (and not in reality). This is simply to assume that if an Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omnibenevolent God exists He would exist in the mind only. Existence in reality is greater than existence in the mind alone. Just like one hundred dollars in reality is greater than one hundred dollars in one’s mind; because one hundred dollars in one’s mind can’t buy any Big Mac’s. In short, reality is greater than understanding. We can conceive of a GCB that exists in reality as well as in the mind. Every person should be able to get a mental image in their mind of a greatest conceivable being existing in both reality and in their heads. Therefore, there is a being that is greater than the greatest conceivable being. But this is impossible, for it is a contradiction. It is a contradiction because originally, it was said that the greatest conceivable being exists in the mind alone. If there is a being that is greater than the greatest conceivable being, than it wouldn’t be the greatest anymore. Since this is a contradiction, it is false that a GCB exists in the mind alone and not in reality. There are many problems with this argument. The first pr
The word “greater” is used throughout this argument. Pay close attention to the tense of the word because it is not greatest, it is greater that is being misused. Particularly in these sentences: “Existence in reality is greater than existence in the mind alone.” And “Therefore, there is a being that is greater than the greatest conceivable being.” In this context, “greater” is being used like I’ve never seen it being used before. While it is still comparative, like in other forms of the word I’ve seen, it seems as if a completely new definition of the word would have to be written for it to be used here. Most of the time when you see the word greater, it would be in math, or when something is more than something else is, sort of black and white; you cannot tell with this, though. With the island counterexample, it seemed quite damaging at first. But it was quite easy to come back and save the argument. It would have been a lot harder to save the argument if it were another example. Something other than an Island, something that didn’t have intrinsic maximums, something that still worked with the counterexample, if something like that fits, like the greatest conceivable girlfriend. Anyway, the island counterexample sounded good until the dispute of it got up. So, the response provided met the challenge of the weakness in a way that the argument could still be effective. It still doesn’t sound too, bad, but it remains up to the reader to decide, as it always does. There were also several weaknesses pointed out about this argument. These weaknesses were few but strong
Some topics in this essay:
Fallacy Equivocation,
Omnibenevolent God,
Omniscience Omnibenevolence,
,
hundred dollars,
hundred dollars one’s,
dollars one’s mind,
exists mind,
mind reality,
dollars one’s,
one’s mind,
island imagine,
hundred dollars reality,
exists mind reality,
gcb exists,
dollars reality,
reality mind,
intrinsic maximums,
mind hundred dollars,
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Approximate Word count = 1096
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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