Anselm's Ontological Argument

Paper Summary:

The writer of this paper shows how Anselm (1033-1109), philosopher, theologian and church leader presented an argument for the existence of God that has been debated by philosophers and academicians for centuries. The paper shows that from the beginning, Anselm's argument has been met with criticism, appreciation and interest by philosophers such as Kant, Descartes and Spinoza. The writer is of the opinion that, after studying the argument, although interesting, it has certain basic flaws, which he attempts to bring out in this paper.

From the Paper:

"While analyzing Anselm's argument and focusing on its weaknesses, the obvious question arises: Why has the argument fascinated so many philosophers over the years, if it was such a weak argument? The answer probably is that it is difficult to prove Anselm's argument wrong logically. Even Kant's argument that "existence is not a predicate" has been challenged by others who have argued that there are senses in which existence is a predicate. So the controversy of and fascination with Anselm's argument is far from over and is likely to continue."

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