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On the Impossibility of Successful Ontological Arguments

Franceschi, Paul (2003) On the Impossibility of Successful Ontological Arguments. [Preprint]

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Abstract

In this paper I present a novel objection to ontological arguments. The argument concerns ontological arguments in general and has the general form of a reductio ad absurdum. Roughly, it rests on the fact that if a sound ontological argument were available, it would contradict the very nature of God. For God aims at maximizing the development of human good qualities (including thus faith) and if a successful ontological argument were available, faith would become unnecessary. Lastly, I review several objections that can be raised against the present argument.

Item Type:Preprint
Additional Information:revised
Keywords:ontological argument, proof
Subjects:Philosophy > Logic
ID Code:2850
Deposited By:Franceschi, Paul
Deposited On:30 Mar 2003
Last Modified:12 Sep 2007 17:47

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References in Article

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Descartes, R. (1642) Meditations on First Philosophy, translated in J. Cottingham, R. Stoothoff, and D. Murdoch, The Philosophical Writings of Descartes, Vol. 2, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984.

Franceschi, P. (2001) Une classe de concepts, Semiotica, 139 (1-4), 211-26, English translation at http://www.univ-corse.fr/~franceschi under the title 'Matrices of concepts'.

Kant, I. (1787) Critique of Pure Reason, second edition, translated by N. Kemp-Smith, London: Macmillan, 1933.

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Oppy, G. (1995): Ontological Arguments and Belief in God, New York: Cambridge University Press.

Oppy, G. (2002) 'Ontological Arguments', The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2002 Edition), E. N. Zalta (ed.), http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2002/entries/ontological-arguments.

Plantinga, A. (1974) The Nature of Necessity, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Sessions, W. L. (1994) The Concept of Faith: a Philosophical Investigation, Cornell University Press

Swindal, J. (2001) 'Faith and Reason', The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (2001 Edition), J. Fieser & B. Dowden (eds.), http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/f/faith-re.htm.

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