Proofs
Anselm’s Ontological Argument for the Existence of God
1. Even someone who denies God exists must have a concept of what God is.
2. The term God means a being greater than which none greater exists
3. There are 2 ways something can exist:
a. Only in the mind.
b. Both in the mind and in the reality outside the mind.
4. It is greater to exist both in the mind and in reality than to exist only in the mind.
5. Therefore, God must exist both in the mind and in reality or he would not be the greatest possible being.
Descartes’ 1st Proof for the Existence of God
1. Every idea we have has both a formal reality and an objective reality (=What the idea represents or its content.)
2. Every idea as an idea has the same formal reality, that is, a mode of thinking.
3. The objective reality of every idea must be accounted for in terms of a formal reality which contains as least as much as the objective reality.
4. The formal reality of myself in the “I think” cannot account for the objective reality of the idea of God. (See the definition of God on p.154.)
5. Therefore, there must exist a formal reality at least as great as the objective reality contained in my idea of God. And thus God exists.
Aquinas’ 1st Proof for the Existence of God Based on Motion
1. Motion (change) – a transition from a state of potentiality to a state of actuality.
2. Only something actual can actualize its corresponding potentiality.
3. The series of actualizers cannot go on forever or to infinity.
4. Therefore, there must be a first actualizer which we call God.
Aquinas 3rd Proof for the Existence of God Based on Possibility
1. By experience we know that certain things can exist as well as can not-exist, in other words, it is possible for certain things to exist as well as not-exist.
2. Whatever can