Sunday, February 20, 2011
Ontological Argument
The ontological argument states that the meaning of God makes God an absolutely necessary being. That is, to understand God is to understand that we can not comprehend God's form. The example that was given in class is that if we understand what a triangle means, we realize we cant imagine one with four sides. Therefore, if we understand what God means, we can not imagine him/her. However, I don't think this is a fair example. A triangle is something everyone agrees upon- a shape with three sides. But God is something more abstract, and everyone has a different idea of what exactly the concept of God is. So the whole concept that "if we understand what God means, we cannot imagine him/her" does not hold any weight, since nobody truly understands what God is.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Does everyone agree on what a triangle is? IT may always have three sides and three angles, but those angles don't always add up to 180 degrees. In parabolic geometry, a triangle may have two right angles. Only in traditional geometry does a triangle have 180 degrees. So the idea of a triangle is more abstract than one may realize, and a more fitting metaphor. Likewise, the ontological argument will typically refer to a traditional understanding of God.
ReplyDelete