Abstract
“Ontological Arguments” In this chapter, Lorkowski first delineates three families of arguments in natural theology based on common features. The author then shows that even the common features of the ontological argument have led many, including theists, to reject it. After this, Lorkowski uses a historical approach to generalize three types of ontological argument, two of which have been thoroughly refuted by Kantian objections. This lets the author isolate the contemporary modal version as the most significant before raising a decisive objection that shows the assumptions required for this version to run cannot be correct.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adams, Robert Merrihew. Leibniz—Determinist, Theist, Idealist, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, 1994.
Anselm, St. “Proslogium,” in Anselm’s Basic Writings, Second Edition, translated by S. N. Deane, Open Court Publishing Company, La Salle Illinois, 1962.
Descartes, René. “Meditations on First Philosophy,” in The Philosophical Writings of Descartes, translated by John Cottingham, Robert Stoothoff, and Dugald Murdoch, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 1985.
Kant, Immanuel. Critique of Pure Reason, translated and edited by Paul Guyer and Allen Wood, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 1988.
Leibniz, G.W. “Critical Remarks Concerning the General Part of Descartes’ Principles,” in Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz—Philosophical Papers and Letters, translated and edited by Leroy E. Loemker, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston, MA, 1970.
Millican, Peter. “Anselm,” in Ontological Arguments, edited by Graham Oppy, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 2018, pages 19–43.
Plantinga, Alvin. The Nature of Necessity, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, 1974.
Rowe, William. “An Exchange on the Problem of Evil,” in God and the Problem of Evil, edited by William Rowe, Blackwell Publishers, Inc., Malden, MA, 2001, pages 124–158.
Schellenberg, J. L. Divine Hiddenness and Human Reason, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, 1993.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Lorkowski, C.M. (2021). Ontological Arguments. In: Atheism Considered. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-56208-3_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-56208-3_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-56207-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-56208-3
eBook Packages: Religion and PhilosophyPhilosophy and Religion (R0)