The ontological argument for the existence of 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 that from the most classical traditions of philosophy try 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 God be proved, if by definition "God" creates himself?

The above has only been able to be answered through premises that they try to prove themselves. That is, arguments that do not use other forms of justification beyond the central idea that is defended.

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

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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 shapes an entity, person, individual, matter, object, subject or being determined. Ontology asks why is it? the object that he studies, and what is it that makes it real? That is to say, wonders about its ultimate cause and its most fundamental properties.

In this sense, an ontological argument is a reasoning that is used to prove or justify the essence of an entity. Although the latter could be applied to different entities, generally the term "argument ontological ”refers directly to the reasoning used to prove the existence of God. This is because, by definition, God should have created himself. Its existence is based on an ontological argument because the very idea of ​​God refers to the greatest thing that human beings can conceive, and therefore, 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 they try to explain "a priori" the existence of a divine being. “A priori” because it is about arguing based on the argument itself, the essence of said being, without the need for resort to previous arguments, that is, without any other argument being necessary to justify the idea central. And, above all, always appealing to reason (not to empirical or naturalistic tests). 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.

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

From Saint Anselm to Descartes

San Anselmo is the most recognized of the philosophers of the eleventh century AD. C. who rationally argued for the existence of God. Heir to the philosophical tradition of St. Augustine, Anselmo explains that God is the greatest being, that is, not anything greater than can be conceived. The greatest thing we can imagine and intuit is precisely the idea of ​​a God, and for the same reason, it exists. In other words, the existence of God proves itself by God's own definition.

The reasoning of San Anselmo is framed in a philosophical and religious tradition of the Middle Ages that seeks to argue the divine existence not only based on Christian faith, but also on 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 bond of human beings with the world.

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The rebirth and separation of faith and reason

During the time that we know as the Renaissance, the theologian Duns Scoto is one of the most recognized in ontological argumentation. Explain that God, and his attributes, can be conceived through reason and not just by faith.

This lays the groundwork for thinking that reason and faith are separate grounds (contrary to what Saint Anselm said); with which, the philosopher and the theologian (and later the scientist) and the tasks that each performs are also different.

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

Descartes' ontological argument

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

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

Bibliographic references:

• González, V. (1950). The ontological argument in Descartes. Cuban Journal of Philosophy. 1(6): 42-45.
• Isea, R. (2015). The Ontological Argument for the Existence of God, Part I. Magazine reason and Christian thought. Retrieved July 18, 2018. Available in http://www.revista-rypc.org/2015/03/el-argumento-ontologico-sobre-la.html.