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28. God / B. Proving God / 2. Proofs of Reason / a. Ontological Proof

[concept of God implies necessary existence]

37 ideas
We couldn't discuss the non-existence of the One without knowledge of it [Plato]
Being is better than not-being [Aristotle]
Epicurus saw that gods must exist, because nature has imprinted them on human minds [Epicurus, by Cicero]
Rational is better than non-rational; the cosmos is supreme, so it is rational [Zeno of Citium]
It seems clear to me that we have an innate idea of the divine [Cicero]
If that than which a greater cannot be thought actually exists, that is greater than the mere idea [Anselm]
Even the fool can hold 'a being than which none greater exists' in his understanding [Anselm]
A perfection must be independent and unlimited, and the necessary existence of Anselm's second proof gives this [Malcolm on Anselm]
Conceiving a greater being than God leads to absurdity [Anselm]
An existing thing is even greater if its non-existence is inconceivable [Anselm]
The word 'God' can be denied, but understanding shows God must exist [Anselm]
Guanilo says a supremely fertile island must exist, just because we can conceive it [Anselm]
Nonexistence is impossible for the greatest thinkable thing, which has no beginning or end [Anselm]
Necessary existence is a property which is uniquely part of God's essence [Descartes]
Possible existence is a perfection in the idea of a triangle [Descartes]
One idea leads to another, but there must be an initial idea that contains the reality of all the others [Descartes]
The idea of God in my mind is like the mark a craftsman puts on his work [Descartes]
Existence and God's essence are inseparable, like a valley and a mountain, or a triangle and its properties [Descartes]
I cannot think of a supremely perfect being without the supreme perfection of existence [Descartes]
Some things makes me conceive of it as a thing whose essence requires its existence [Spinoza]
Spinoza says a substance of infinite attributes cannot fail to exist [Spinoza, by Lord]
Denial of God is denial that his essence involves existence, which is absurd [Spinoza]
God is being as such, and you cannot conceive of the non-existence of being [Spinoza, by Lord]
God must necessarily exist, because no reason can be given for his non-existence [Spinoza]
The concept of an existing thing must contain more than the concept of a non-existing thing [Leibniz]
God alone (the Necessary Being) has the privilege that He must exist if He is possible [Leibniz]
God is the first reason of things; our experiences are contingent, and contain no necessity [Leibniz]
God's existence is either necessary or impossible [Leibniz, by Scruton]
We establish unification of the Ideal by the ontological proof, deriving being from abstraction of thinking [Hegel]
Hegel's entire philosophy is nothing but a monstrous amplification of the ontological proof [Schopenhauer on Hegel]
God's existence cannot be separated from essence and concept, which can only be thought as existing [Feuerbach]
Frege put forward an ontological argument for the existence of numbers [Frege, by Benardete,JA]
God's existence is either necessary or impossible, and no one has shown that the concept of God is contradictory [Malcolm]
A possible world contains a being of maximal greatness - which is existence in all worlds [Plantinga, by Davies,B]
In the ontological argument a full understanding of the concept of God implies a contradiction in 'There is no God' [Benardete,JA]
It seems that 'exists' could sometimes be a predicate [Crane]
The ontological proof of a necessary God ensures a reality external to the mind [Meillassoux]