Single Idea 8491

[catalogued under 28. God / B. Proving God / 2. Proofs of Reason / b. Ontological Proof critique]

Full Idea

The ontological proof of God's existence suffers from the fallacy of treating existence as a first-level concept.

Gist of Idea

The Ontological Argument fallaciously treats existence as a first-level concept

Source

Gottlob Frege (Function and Concept [1891], p.38 n)

Book Reference

Frege,Gottlob: 'Translations from the Writings of Gottlob Frege', ed/tr. Geach,P/Black,M [Blackwell 1980], p.38


A Reaction

[See Idea 8490 for first- and second-order functions] This is usually summarised as the idea that existence is a quantifier rather than a predicate.

Related Idea

Idea 8490 First-level functions have objects as arguments; second-level functions take functions as arguments [Frege]