Saturday, August 06, 2005

Ontological Proof

We are said to be made in the image of God. One consequence of this is that God must be a little like us. We have a sense of humour and so it can be inferred that God too has a sense of humour. It certainly would be a divine joke if the ontological proof were a logical proof of the existence of God. If I were wholly God rather than merely an image I would certainly consider allowing this proof to succeed. A logical proof in which nobody believes would be a more interesting way of managing humanity than a personal appearance in the clouds above London.
Every now and again I think I understand the proof.
This time I will write it down while I think I have it.

God, whether he exists or not, is defined as the most perfect being one can imagine.
Thats a definition I think that you can accept for the purposes of this argument whether or not you want to accept the conclusion which is obviously coming.

Next however perfect the being is that we imagine it is always possible to imagine a being who is more perfect because he does actually exist. So the most perfect being is one that exists rather than one that does not exist.

If it is possible for God to exist then he must exist because existence is a necessary attribute of the most perfect being. (as just shown).
So it only has to be shown that it is possible for God to exist in order to prove that he definitely does exist.
Is it possible for God to exist? Yes it is possible for God to exist because anything that we can imagine is possible and it is only by examining what is actually in the world that we discover whether it exists or not.
However in the case of God the mere possibility of his existence guarantees his existence.
As I write that I already feel it slipping away again.

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