PHIL 111 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Bertrand Russell, Gaunilo Of Marmoutiers, Ontological Argument

• School: Queen's University
• Department: Philosophy
• Course: PHIL 111
• Professor: Jon Miller

Document Summary

Arguments for and against the existence of god, conceived in a particular way. Arguments for and against the rationality of belief in god, conceived in a particular way. When you think of god, what comes to mind: an all-knowing being, an unquestionable figure of authority, creator of all things, spiritual essence implicit in everything, moral standard. In favour of the existence of such a being: designed to show that god exists using premises derived from some source other than observation. St. anselm of canterbury was a benedictine monk, born in italy, who gave up his wealth to devote himself to god. He became archbishop of canterbury in 1093 and died there in. Anselm"s strategy is to derive the existence of god from the concept of a being than which no greater can be conceived. Anselm has faith; what he seeks is understanding.