Ontological Argument Analysis

One of the most famous arguments for the existence of God is the Ontological Argument, which was introduced by Saint Anselm. In accordance to Anselm, faith is believing without reason, and he supports his faith with reasons. Anselm defines God as “that which nothing greater can be conceived.” Which in result he is not stating a clear definition of god, he is implying that we may never conceive god. Anselm cited “the fool” from Psalm 14, who says in his heart there is no God. The fool then states that “God exists only in the understanding.” It is important to note that questioning things does not make you a fool, for everyone at one point questions another God. Anselm illustrates that the fool understands his understandings, although he does

He supports this argument by introducing the concept of a painter. “When a painter first conceives of what he will afterwards make, he has it in his understanding, but he does not yet understand it to be, because he has not yet made it. But after he has made the painting, he both has it in his understanding and he understands that it exists, because he has made it.” This proves that to exist in the understanding, is different from existing in reality. Anselm then points out that in the case of god, to exist in reality, is much greater than to exist only in the understanding. But this means that it is contradictory to deny that god exists in reality. This is because a person cannot state that a being which “nothing greater can be perceived” does not exist in reality, for this raises the contradiction that if this being did not exist, then they are able to perceive that a greater being exists. Which in result one is demonstrating the concept of god “a being that which nothing greater can be conceived” This then supports Anselm’s argument that God is greatest in all ways, so he must