The other day I was reminded of Anselm’s ontological argument for God. Put in a simple form, it goes thusly:
- God is a being which nothing greater than can be imagined.
- Existence both in reality and in imagination is greater than existence solely in one’s imagination.
- Therefore, God must exist in reality: if not, God would not be a being greater than anything that can be imagined.
In an effort to expand my horizons, I decided to see if I could reverse the argument. You can be the judge of whether I accomplished it:
- That which exists must be conceivable in the imagination.
- God in reality would be greater than God in the imagination (per Anselm’s argument).
- Therefore, God cannot exist in reality: if so something would exist that cannot be imagined.
The weak point in my argument is, obviously, the first point. Let us assume for a minute that it is actually incorrect, allowing us to present this argument:
- Things can exist which cannot be imagined.
- God is a being which nothing greater than can be imagined.
- Therefore, God cannot be known to be greater than all things: if things can exist that can’t be imagined, they could be greater than God.
While the argument does not reduce to a logical absurdity, and thus prove that we must be able to imagine all things that exist, it does greatly diminish the essence of what God would be. As I see it, this brings us to two options:
- God doesn’t exist (because we can’t imagine him).
- God exists but we don’t know whether he is the greatest thing in existence. (Under the typical definition of God this would mean God isn’t God. Anselm, however, used a different definition in his argument and thus God could still exist.)
If anyone has a suggestion as to how I can improve my argument, I’d love to hear it. Of course, in the end I do believe in God. What I was seeking to do here (in addition to sharpen my mind) was to show that God is never going to be proved or disproved by reason or logic. (Or, I would add, science.) Arguments and counter-arguments can always be made.
Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see [and cannot prove]. -Hebrews 11:1
Tags: Anselm, faith, ontological argument, reason
