The Ontological Argument for the Existence of God

A review of this component of philosophy related to inquiries about God.

The question about the origin of the world and of human beings has been accompanied by a series of philosophical reasonings that have impacted an entire cultural organization. There have been many arguments from the most classical traditions of philosophy that attempt to prove the existence of a divine being. Among other things, these arguments have been established around the following question: ¿how could the existence of a divine being be proved?how could the existence of a God be provedif, by definition, "God" creates himself?

This has only been answered through premises that attempt to prove themselves. That is to say, arguments that do not use other forms of justification beyond the central idea that is defended.

This is what is meant by the term "ontological argument".. Next we will make a brief review by its definition and by those reasonings that have been used to justify the existence of a God in the society and the western culture.

What is an ontological argument?

To begin with it is necessary to clarify what we mean by an "ontological argument". The word ontology means "the study of the entity", which means that it is a philosophical practice that studies the ultimate substance: that which gives form to a given entity, person, individual, matter, object, subject or being. Ontology asks what is the object it studies, and what is it that makes it real? That is to say, it wonders about its ultimate cause and its most fundamental properties..

In this sense, an ontological argument is a reasoning used to prove or justify the essence of an entity. Although the latter could be applied to different entities, generally the term "ontological argument" refers directly to the reasoning used to prove the existence of God. This is so because by its very definition, God would have to have created himself. His existence is supported by an ontological argument because the very idea of God refers to the greatest thing that we human beings can conceive of, and thus, there is no other mode of existence or knowledge that precedes it..

In other words, its existence is based on a series of premises that attempt to explain "a priori" God's existence. attempt to explain "a priori" the existence of a divine being.. "A priori" because it is a matter of arguing on the basis of the argument itself, the essence of such a being, without the need to resort to previous arguments, that is, without any other argument being necessary to justify the central idea. And, above all, always appealing to reason (not to empirical or naturalistic evidence). Thus, this is an ontological argument because it is not based on the observation of the world, but on a rational and theoretical appeal to the study of being.

Below we will see some of the arguments that have been used since the classical philosophy of Christianity to defend the existence of God.

From St. Anselm to Descartes

St. Anselm is the most recognized of the philosophers of the 11th century A.D. who argued rationally about the existence of God. Heir to the philosophical tradition of St. Augustine, Anselm explains that God is the greatest being, i.e., nothing greater that can be conceived. The greatest thing that we can imagine and intuit is precisely the idea of a God.and, therefore, exists. In other words, the existence of God proves itself by the very definition of God.

St. Anselm's reasoning is part of a philosophical and religious tradition of the Middle Ages that seeks to argue for the divine existence not only on the basis of Christian faith, but also on the basis of reason. The latter in an attempt to counter the God-denial of agnosticism and skepticism. In this context, the demonstration and argumentation of the existence of God is considered as the transcendent cause that makes possible the link of human beings with the world.

The Renaissance and the separation of faith and reason

During the era we know as the Renaissance, the theologian Duns Scotus is one of the most recognized in ontological argumentation. He explains that God, and his attributes, can be conceived by means of reason and not only by faith..

This lays the foundations for thinking that reason and faith are separate terrains (contrary to what St. Anselm said); thus, the philosopher and the theologian (and later the scientist) and the tasks performed by each are also different.

Not only that, but reason begins to be understood as attainable by means of demonstration and experience, so that the existence of God is demonstrated only by faith. And in this same sense, during the Renaissance, a skeptical tradition of religious and moral of the religious and the moral.

Descartes' ontological argument

Arriving in modernity and under the same Christian tradition, Descartes appears to try to recover the idea that the existence of God can be proven by reason. This and other philosophers remain skeptical of the ground of experience as the starting point for constructing rational knowledge. starting point for constructing rational knowledge. From there, Descartes argues that if there is something we cannot doubt, it is that we doubt and think, that is, that we have a rational substance that allows us to understand the material, and the world in general.

In other words, he reflects on the authority of reason, on the composition of thought and its extension, and how this resembles divine existence. For Descartes, reason (the mind) is the same thing as GodHe thus reformulates the ontological argument for its existence while laying the foundations of the epistemological paradigms of modern science.