Rethinking the Ontological Argument

Rethinking the Ontological Argument PDF Author: Daniel A. Dombrowski
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139457144
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 12

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Book Description
In recent years, the ontological argument and theistic metaphysics have been criticised by philosophers working in both the analytic and continental traditions. Responses to these criticisms have primarily come from philosophers who make use of the traditional, and problematic, concept of God. In this volume, Daniel A. Dombrowski defends the ontological argument against its contemporary critics, but he does so by using a neoclassical or process concept of God, thereby strengthening the case for a contemporary theistic metaphysics. Relying on the thought of Charles Hartshorne, he builds on Hartshorne's crucial distinction between divine existence and divine actuality, which enables neoclassical defenders of the ontological argument to avoid the familiar criticism that the argument moves illegitimately from an abstract concept to concrete reality. His argument, thus, avoids the problems inherent in the traditional concept of God as static.

Rethinking the Ontological Argument

Rethinking the Ontological Argument PDF Author: Daniel A. Dombrowski
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139457144
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 12

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Book Description
In recent years, the ontological argument and theistic metaphysics have been criticised by philosophers working in both the analytic and continental traditions. Responses to these criticisms have primarily come from philosophers who make use of the traditional, and problematic, concept of God. In this volume, Daniel A. Dombrowski defends the ontological argument against its contemporary critics, but he does so by using a neoclassical or process concept of God, thereby strengthening the case for a contemporary theistic metaphysics. Relying on the thought of Charles Hartshorne, he builds on Hartshorne's crucial distinction between divine existence and divine actuality, which enables neoclassical defenders of the ontological argument to avoid the familiar criticism that the argument moves illegitimately from an abstract concept to concrete reality. His argument, thus, avoids the problems inherent in the traditional concept of God as static.

Rethinking the Ontological Argument

Rethinking the Ontological Argument PDF Author: Daniel A. Dombrowski
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780511225888
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 182

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Book Description


Rethinking Anselm's Arguments

Rethinking Anselm's Arguments PDF Author: Richard Campbell
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004363661
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 547

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Book Description
This book re-examines Anselm’s famous arguments for the existence of God in his Proslogion, and in his Reply. It demonstrates how he validly deduces from plausible premises that God so truly exists that He could not be thought not to exist. Most commentators, ancient and modern, wrongly located his argument in a passage which is not about God at all. It becomes evident that, consequently, much contemporary criticism is based on misreading and misunderstanding his text. It reconstructs his reasoning through three distinct but logically connected stages. It shows that, even if Anselm’s crucial premises are sceptically interpreted, his conclusions still follow. Properly understood, this argument is not vulnerable to the standard criticisms, including Gaunilo’s ‘Lost island’ counter-example.

Ontological Arguments and Belief in God

Ontological Arguments and Belief in God PDF Author: Graham Oppy
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521481205
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 400

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Book Description
This book is a unique contribution to the philosophy of religion. It offers a comprehensive discussion of one of the most famous arguments for the existence of God: the ontological argument. The author provides and analyzes a critical taxonomy of those versions of the argument that have been advanced in recent philosophical literature, as well as of those historically important versions found in the work of St. Anselm, Descartes, Leibniz, Hegel and others.

The Many-Faced Argument

The Many-Faced Argument PDF Author: John Hick
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1606086952
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 385

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Book Description
The Many-Faced Argument presents a compilation of essays on the ontogical argument for the existence of God, covering responses to Anselm's position in the first half, and, in the second half, covering developments of the argument in the context of modern philosophy. Along with contibutions by editors Hick and McGill, other writers include Karl Barth, Andre Hayden, Anselm Stolz, Bertrand Russell, Jerome Shaffer, Gilbert Ryle, Aime Forest, Norman Malcolm, and Charles Hartshorne. While interest in the the ontological argument has arisen from various disciplines -- historical, theological and philosophical -- the purpose of this book is to bring these varied writings together so that scholars and students within each discipline may have contributions from other fields readily available.

A Conversaunt Existence

A Conversaunt Existence PDF Author: G. Bradley Nelson
Publisher: WestBow Press
ISBN: 1490875034
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 129

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Book Description
Discussions about existence have generally come through the subject of philosophy. The thinking and thoughts about God's existence are well documented. Both sides of the standard arguments for God's existence have been presented. Current thinking has turned to evolutionary concepts that deny God exists or claims that God is a mere impersonal force. However, the time has come for a fresh look into how man can know of God's existence. A Conversaunt Existence is just such a look. Changes have been made to the standard arguments for God's existence. New avenues of thought have been incorporated to corroborate these changes. There are reasons for directing our thoughts toward God's existing: First, it's foolish to let others steer one's thinking into denying God's existence. Ultimately, God wants everyone to respond to His invitation, accept His lifesaving and life-giving message, and participate in writing His story. KIRKUS REVIEW A short treatise on existence with an emphasis on the existence of God. Nelson harkens back to a premodern era by using the archaic word "conversaunt" in place of "conversant" in his title. In doing so, he honors the fact that humankind has always experienced existence as a common form of knowledge. Nelson's work, though deeply philosophical in content, is meant from the beginning to have a personal impact on the reader and not just be merely theoretical in nature. Moreover, his overarching goal is to demonstrate the existence of a personal and involved God. Such authors as C.S. Lewis and Soren Kierkegaard help lead the way. In order to show that the human race is capable of understanding and even connecting with a God figure, Nelson coins a new term intercomplexicate which describes a self-consciousness that is able to make quick evaluations of complex ideas, leading to moral understanding. The author discusses both the strengths and weaknesses of ontological arguments for God's existence and also attempts to disprove popular scientific arguments against the existence of a deity. The idea of contingency (that existence can only occur due to a prior cause) is of great importance in later chapters, as Nelson argues that existence must be contingent on a "necessary being," such as a primary mover or first cause. In closing, the author provides a case not merely for a creator ("watchmaker") God, but for a personal God who continues to be involved with creation. Nelson has a penchant for mixing theoretical and philosophical verbiage with nonstandard language (such as using "by da vey" instead of "by the way" or comparing God with Jean-Luc Picard of Star Trek: The Next Generation). He seems to be seeking a balance between the often opaque material he presents and the personal effect he hopes to have on readers. This balance, unfortunately, is rarely found. Nevertheless, Nelson provides sound arguments worthy of further reflection. Review questions after each chapter are helpful for guiding and focusing the reader. A thoughtful, refreshing argument for God's existence.

Rethinking Relations and Animism

Rethinking Relations and Animism PDF Author: Miguel Astor-Aguilera
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351356755
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 324

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Book Description
Personhood and relationality have re-animated debate in and between many disciplines. We are in the midst of a simultaneous "ontological turn", a "(re)turn to things" and a "relational turn", and also debating a "new animism". It is increasingly recognised that the boundaries between the "natural" and "social" sciences are of heuristic value but might not adequately describe reality of a multi-species world. Following rich and provocative dialogues between ethnologists and Indigenous experts, relations between the received knowledge of Western Modernity and that of people who dwell and move within different ontologies have shifted. Reflection on human relations with the larger-than-human world can no longer rely on the outdated assumption that "nature" and "cultures" already accurately describe the lineaments of reality. The chapters in this volume advance debates about relations between humans and things, between scholars and others, and between Modern and Indigenous ontologies. They consider how terms in diverse communities might hinder or help express, evidence and explore improved ways of knowing and being in the world. Contributors to this volume bring different perspectives and approaches to bear on questions about animism, personhood, materiality, and relationality. They include anthropologists, archaeologists, ethnographers, and scholars of religion.

The Necessity of God

The Necessity of God PDF Author: R. T. Allen
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 135147877X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 133

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Book Description
Every person acquires a worldview, a picture of reality. Within that picture, the existence of some things will be taken wholly for granted as the background to, and support of, everything else. Their existence will rarely be questioned. The cosmos or universe, the gods, God, Brahman, Heaven, the Absolute--R. T. Allen claims that all these and other world- views have been held to be that which necessarily exists and upon which all other beings depend in one way or another.European philosophers, since antiquity, have offered arguments to show that their chosen candidates for the role of the necessary being or beings that support the rest of reality do actually exist. The Necessity of God sets the valid core of previous ontological arguments. It does not and cannot prove that God exists, but only that something necessarily exists. In an a priori manner and without inferring anything from what in fact exists, Allen proceeds to show that which necessarily exists is one, transfinite, eternal, and the archetype of personal existence: in short, that it is God as classically conceived. As for everything else that may exist, it must be finite and dependent for its existence upon God as its creator and sustainer.Few things are more erroneous in philosophy and disastrous in practice than artificial constructions produced without constant reference to concrete reality. That which necessarily exists may be the one exception. Before this constructive argument, Allen examines previous examples of ontological arguments in order to show exactly where they go wrong and to extract the valid core obscured within them. This will make clear the difference between them and his new version. The reader who is eager to engage the philosophical sources of belief will find a distinct treasure in The Necessity of God.

Creating God from Nothing

Creating God from Nothing PDF Author: Keith Backman
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781634983204
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 102

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Book Description
In his second philosophical inquiry, Keith Backman closely analyzes two versions of the Ontological Argument for the existence of God: the original argument as formulated by Anselm of Canterbury in the Eleventh Century, and the Twentieth Century variant proposed by Alvin Plantinga. He unearths and explores fallacies that have not been previously recognized in those arguments. One fallacy entails the improper treatment of characteristics featuring implicitly infinite magnitude as if they possessed a definite measure. Both philosophers indirectly propose that attributes of infinite magnitude should be manipulated, augmented, or aggregated so as to obtain an entity with a magnitude distinguishable from the infinitely great properties of its starting components. The author concisely and lucidly illustrates the error of this kind of reasoning, and its consequences. A second type of fallacy entails the subtle bundling of disparate appreciations of God's existential status, which the philosophers introduce as imaginary for descriptive purposes, but then treat as substantive for purposes of rational argument. In addition to being an explicit equivocation, this implicit reification has the effect of presuming the conclusion sought. Follow along with the author as he pinpoints exactly how and where the quasi-logical sleight-of-hand takes place.

Understanding Anselm's Ontological Argument

Understanding Anselm's Ontological Argument PDF Author: Guy Jackson
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3031415353
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 82

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Book Description
Anselm's ontological argument is one of the most fascinating, most controversial, and most misunderstood arguments in the entire history of Western thought. By centring the argument firmly in the Neoplatonic tradition within which Anselm was writing, Understanding Anselm's Ontological Argument sheds fresh light and clarity on this enigmatic piece of philosophy. It argues that, far from resting upon a fallacy or illegitimately attempting to define God into existence, Anselm's argument is a powerful and plausible philosophical proof, and deserves to be taken seriously as such. Written to be understandable for specialists and non-specialists alike, Understanding Anselm's Ontological Argument is ideal for scholars and researchers in philosophy of religion and philosophy in the Middle Ages (especially Neoplatonism) as well as for medievalists in general.