This argument for the existence of god has fascinated philosophers ever since anselm first stated it. In other words, ontological arguments are arguments from what are typically alleged to be none but analytic, a priori and necessary premises to the. He is the author of god and other minds, 1967, the nature of necessity. Alvin carl plantinga born november 15, 1932 is an american philosopher and holder of the jellema chair in philosophy at calvin college. Notre dame philosopher alvin plantinga awarded 2017. A critique of the plantinga version of the modal ontological argument 2016 by arnold t. He wants to show that if it is even possible that god, so thought of, exists, then it is true and necessarily true that he does. Plantingas ontological argument the third modalised version of the ontological argument was advanced in 1974 by alvin plantinga in his book the nature of necessity.
Thus gods existence is either impossible or necessary. Ontological arguments are arguments, for the conclusion that god exists, from premises which are supposed to derive from some source other than observation of the worlde. Plantinga has been one of the principal figures involved in the attempt to clarify and understand the metaphysics of possible worlds. In the actual world i am writing up this blog post, but i could have decid. An ontological argument is a philosophical argument for the existence of god that uses. On plantingas ontological argument by darrin at 1172009 one of the most curious arguments for the existence of god has been presented by st. Anselm to contemporary philosophers alvin plantinga, richard taylor on. Arguments for the existence of god go back at least to aristotle, who argued that there must be a first mover, itself unmoved. Alvin plantinga famously defends a version of the ontological argument that makes use of the notion of possible worlds. Is the modal ontological argument for god a sound proof. Alvin plantinga s modal ontological s argument is a irrefutable logical argument for the existence of god. Cressleaf groundsel packera glabella purdue university. Oxford, 2000 alvin plantinga discussed in great depth the question of the rationality, or sensibility, of christian belief.
Ontological argument for the gods existence internet. Reason and belief in god alvin plantinga belief in god is the heart and center of the christian religion as it is of judaism and islam. If the pluralist had been born in morocco he probably wouldnt be a pluralist. Alvin plantinga challenged this argument and proposed an alternative, based on modal logic. Pdf where the conflict really lies download full pdf. What was particularly intetesting was seeing alvin plantingas rebuttal of the argument he would later come to support, although only after tweaking it which i think has really transormed it and is the most convincing form of it that ive ever read. In warrant and proper function alvin plantinga established his evolutionary argument against naturalism1 eaan. Alvin plantingas maximally great being mgb argument plantinga. Alvin plantingas modal ontological argument posted on january 14, 2014 by logan stewart 4 comments in this video, the modal ontological argument developed by alvin plantinga in his work, the nature of necessity, is explained in easy to understand terms. I introduce a plausible interpretation of the ontological argument that is not vulnerable to millicans objection and conclude that even if the ontological.
Original german text available online, 628 kb pdf file, maintained by alain. Pdf it is often said that the ontological argument fails because it wrongly treats. Assuming s5, the main controversial premise in modal ontological arguments is. No philosophical argument for the existence of god, can be initiated with a definition of god. Carmona as sort of a reply to the article i posted earlier, i have decided to present chapter 4 of my book philosophical atheism in full.
Alvin plantinga s modal version is perhaps the most notable example. The ontological argument alvin plantinga 1 the third theistic argument i wish to discuss is the famous ontological argument first formulated by anselm of canterbury in the eleventh century. Alvin plantinga recognized for revolutionary thinking in philosophy. The ontological argument peter millican any argument which attempts to prove gods existence a priori based only on his nature can be termed an ontological argument.
This paper presents detailed formalizations of ontological arguments in a simple modal natural deduction calculus. Plantingas defence of the ontological argument michael tooley in chapter io of his book, the nature of necessity, alvin plantinga contends that although many versions of the ontological argument are unsound, there is at least one that is valid, and. This is the basic idea of modal ontological analysis. Plantinga edited faith and philosophy, 1964, and the ontological argument, 1965. Refuting plantingas victorious ontological argument. Guminski examines the modal ontological argument based upon possible worlds semantics expounded by alvin plantinga and further developed and defended by william lane craig. Plantingas version of the ontological argument is seen as the most updated and formidable. For, in my judgment, there is no presentation of the ontological argument that is as carefully developed, forceful, and clear as plantingas formulation and discussion of the argument on 3 ibid. The critique to which plantinga is here responding is timothy mcgrew, has. Malcolms version malcolm pointed out the second version of the ontological argument, god is that, than which nothing greater can be conceived.
Now god can create free creatures, but he cant cause or determine them to do only what is right. I have to say, i think several of the objections presented against the ontological argument basically miss the mark. A more recent ontological argument came from kurt godel, who proposed a formal argument for gods existence. He is known for his work in philosophy of religion, epistemology, metaphysics and christian apologetics quotes. A study of theological responses to alvin plantingas aquinas.
Alvin plantinga, professor of philosophy at notre dame, is an expert in this. Why not either content ourselves with stage i, or combine. It is the policy of the purdue university that all persons have equal opportunity and access to its educational programs, services, activities, and facilities without regard to race, religion, color, sex, age, national origin or ancestry, marital status, parental status, sexual orientation, disability or status as a veteran. On the historical argument a rejoinder to plantinga timothy mcgrew department of philosophy western michigan university kalamazoo, michigan lydia mcgrew kalamazoo, michigan 1 alvin plantinga, warranted christian beliefoxford. Alvin plantinga quotes author of god, freedom, and evil. Plantingas fundamental error is in assuming that philosophy is about things. And, according to kevin harrelson, kants rejection of the ontological argument on epistemic. In contrast, the ontological arguments are conceptual in roughly the following. The evolutionary argument against naturalism eaan is a philosophical argument asserting a problem with believing both evolution and philosophical naturalism simultaneously. The scene of empathy and the human face on film, in carl plantinga and greg m.
Reassessing plantingas ontological argument for god. Here in this neighborhood and in connection with antirealist considerations of the putnamian type, there is a splendid piece by shelley stillwell in the 89 synthese entitled something like plantingas antirealism which nicely analyzes the situation and seems to contain the materials for a theistic argument. Cornelius plantinga quotes page 1 of 1 cornelius plantinga 1946 cornelius neal plantinga, jr. By taking existence in reality to be a greatmaking property and god to be the greatest possible being, plantinga skillfully presents anselms ontological argument. It is really just the assertion that a maximally great being is not possible, and thus merely an assertion to the effect that plantingas first and key premise is false. Download pdf where the conflict really lies book full free. Acknowledging that many faithful adherents of other religions are more or less genuinely pious being fully aware that there are people who practice a different religion than your own living nonhypocritically with respect to the rules and precepts of your. So, for example, there is a possible world in which i am able to execute dazzling slam dunks and a possible world in which i am lucky to make a basket at all. Suppose we concede that if i had been born of muslim parents in morocco rather than christian parents in michigan, my beliefs would be quite different. The ontological argument for the existence of god has enjoyed a recent renaissance among philosophers of religion. All the great medieval philosophers arabic and jewish as well as christian proposed and developed theistic arguments for example, augustine, alghazali, anselm, moses maimonides, thomas aquinas and duns scotus. Plantinga, presumption, possibility, and the problem of evil keith.
Of course christians may disagree, at least in emphasis, as to how to think of god. My topic is alvin plantingas solution to one of the many forms that the. The journal of aesthetics and arts criticism 63, 2 spring 2005. It also makes use of the clause in nagasawas article, namely that since. An introduction to alvin plantingas modal ontological. Anselms ontological argument anselm, 1078 can be regarded as the ancestor of modern ontological arguments such as godels. The nature of necessity, together with a series of subsequent articles, constitutes what is perhaps the most sophisticated theory of possible worlds yet to be constructed. It can be the former only if the concept of such a being is selfcontradictory or in. The author concludes that while the argument is probably. I have also proposed a way to combine the model for. This essay critically examines plantinga s rendition, uncovering both its strengths and weaknesses. An introduction to alvin plantingas modal ontological argument. Plantinga begins his discussion of the ontological argument by borrowing seventeenth century philosopher leibniz idea of possible worlds. Mergers and acquisitions are familiar phenomena in the business world.
Naturalism, theism, obligation and supervenience 249 disjunction of these properties, furthermore, will entail obligation, and also be entailed by it. Norman malcolm revived the ontological argument in 1960 when he located a second, stronger ontological argument in anselms work. Question 1 5 5 points which of the following is not a characteristic of plantingas condition c with regard to religious diversity. Plantingas argument centres on his conclusion that naturalism and the theory of evolution ne are rationally incompatible because they gives rise to significant doubts about the reliability of our cognitive faculties beilby 2002 pp. Ontological arguments are arguments, for the conclusion that god exists, from. Yet many people seem to have a hard time understanding it. The exam expects you to reflect on the challenges to the ontological argument do they refute it or does the argument still persuade. He was born in jamestown, nd and was ordained in 1971. Obrien professor of philosophy emeritus at the university of notre dame, was named the 2017 templeton prize laureate on tuesday april 25 by the john templeton foundation over his 50 years of research in philosophy of religion, epistemology and metaphysics, plantinga has advanced landmark arguments for the existence. Ontological arguments are logical deductions that prove a theorem that is compossible with theism, with premises that are independent of observation.
In this account, we replace the possibilist idea of merely possible worlds with that of a certain type of state of affairs alternatively, a certain type of proposition which exists but fails to obtain alternatively, fails to be true. Evolutionary argument against naturalism wikipedia. But the nomaximality premise of the rival to plantingas ontological argument seems in no relevant way different from nu. Plantingas modal version ontological argument plantinga developed his modal version of the ontological argument for the existence of god in his two controversial books, the nature of necessity 1974.
Contemporary defenders of the ontological argument include alvin plantinga, william alston and. Ontological arguments stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. If in an identical judgement i reject the predicate and retain the subject, there arises a. Alvin plantingas modal ontological argument fundamental. William lane craig considers alvin plantingas version of the ontological argument as having the best chance of being cogent wlc 2004, p. The argument was first proposed by alvin plantinga in 1993 and raises issues of interest to epistemologists, philosophers of mind, evolutionary biologists, and philosophers of religion. Plantinga concludes that the ontological argument shows that belief in god isnt contrary to reason irrational, deluded, foolish and he thinks this is enough. Historically, however, the term is inextricably associated with the famous argument presented in anselms proslogion chapter ii, and with. As is typically done, we might think of a possible world as a complete way that things might have been. As an example of actualistically acceptable abstract worlds, we draw chiefly upon plantingas account. Consequently, the modal ontological argument is a logical argument, but not an ontological argument in the sense of having any existential relevance.